Searching For Lost Gems
by Sleepysaurus Rex
Summary: A side-story to Trial By Lightning, so read that first! When Gem goes missing, Cade and Jacob go out to the HTTYD movieverse to find her, and see why she's vanished. When Hiccup and Toothless realise that the two dragons are more than meets the eye, the four of them scour the Barbaric Archipelago for their lost friend. And how does Drago Bludfist fit into this? Rated T for safety.
1. Chapter 1: Lost Treasure

**Author's note: Woo! My first crossover! (Well, sort of. It has snatches of the Inheritance cycle in it, but mostly happens in HTTYD, without any of the IC cast.) Okay, this is a side-story to Trial By Lightning, which is in the Inheritance Cycle section of FanFiction. Go check that out first, then come back and read this, otherwise this will make absolutely very little sense, but I'll do my best to give an introduction to those of who haven't read it. This story is intended to make sense from whatever point in time you're at in TBL, but reading it after chapter 13 would be best, even if it does make the timeline a little screwy. Reviews are appreciated! Anyway, may your swords stay sharp, and may your skies stay clear!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Inheritance Cycle or HTTYD. If I did, I'd be a millionaire.**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Lost treasure**

The Bluepeak Riftwalkers were freaked out. Gem, our Clan leader, had gone missing. The first Gathering we had where she hadn't shown up was embarrassing, but could be explained with a wave of a paw and unexpected circumstances. It happened to all of us once or twice. The week after that, Gem was still a no-show. We went from annoyed to concerned by the end of that day. The third Gathering without her passed, and we were at panic stations.

I should probably explain that we're Plainswalkers; people who had died on Earth and had been reborn as all manner of things to protect the multiverse from Shadows- beings who wanted to take over it for reasons of their own. We were a small clan, a group of hopefully still five dragons. Jacob, our mentally youngest, was a blue-eyed Night Fury. Paddles, our swimming champion, was a wingless dragon with a long, eel-like tail. Sal, the glue that kept us together, was a red Norwegian Ridgeback. Gem, our lost leader, was a green version of Smaug. As for me, I had a small version the golden, three-headed, lightning zapping form of King Ghidorah from Godzilla: King of the Monsters, although I was still slowly growing.

Plainswalkers can die from a lot of things. Sadly, suicide was a common occurrence for the newer members, and then there were the Shadows who were out to get us, and the dangers of travelling across the multiverse through the Rift, not to mention the dangers each of us faced in our assigned realms.

"_This is ridiculous." _I mentally projected as the four of us poked at our lunch without appetite. Given that the realm I'd respawned in was Alagaësia, a land of telepathic dragons, I communicated via ESP.

We were in Bluepeak, our modernised, mountain home that overlooked Locostral city through a panorama of windows. We'd ordered a takeaway pizza large enough for us all to share, but it was fairly untouched apart from a few bites that Jacob had taken.

The others nodded at my words.

"I've known Gem for years." Paddles nodded. "It's not like her to stay away without giving us a reason."

"But that would mean…" Jacob started, his gummy, pizza covered, bottom lip beginning to quiver as his eyes went large and round. He had been fifteen when he died, but he was mentally younger than that, and being immortal unless we were harmed in combat kinda killed off ageing for us.

"What's happened isn't necessarily what you're thinking of." Sal interrupted, tying to stay positive. "Gem could have just had her key stolen or something."

"_That's true." _I conceded. "_Has anything like that happened before?"_

I was still fairly new to this Plainswalking stuff, so I wasn't sure whether this was a common occurrence. Nonetheless, I'd somehow taken charge of our group.

"Only after someone's kicked the bucket the second time." Paddles mumbled.

"Not always." Sal countered. "Once, I had my key taken by a horde of goblins. It took me a day or two to track them down and flame them, but I eventually got it back. Luckily, it didn't affect anything to do with missing Gatherings."

"Was that the week where I put firecrackers in your coffee, then you drank it before I could set them off and they went up in your stomach?" Jacob asked.

Sal glared at him. "That was you?! I was hospitalised for a month because of that!"

"I'll take that as a yes." The Night Fury said meekly.

I sighed. "_Back to the point, there is a chance that Gem's still kicking, right?"_

"More than just a chance." Paddles said. "Gem's pulled through more life-threatening **** than all of us combined. The likelihood is that she's still alive, only stopped from returning by something."

"_So can we go to the Elders and ask them to let us search the HTTYD movieverse for her?" _I asked.

That seemed to stun everyone. The Elders were the head of us Plainswalkers, so we'd have to run our request by them to get the green light.

"I mean, we could." Sal said. "Then it would be up to them to decide."

Paddles spoke up. "As much as I like Gem, I won't go, even if we are allowed to. The seas there would be freezing, full of dragons even bigger than me, and then there's those alpha ones that can mentally control other dragons. I'm not going to risk becoming a slave to one of them."

"By that logic, we'd all be discounted." Sal said. "I'm not sure that I'd go either. I have enough risk of enslavement and death already. Middle Earth is chaotic at the best of times. Besides, I'm needed there. Shadows have a nasty habit of trying to break in."

"_Valid point for you guys, but not for me." _I pointed out. "_I have mental defences, so I'd be fine."_

"I'll go with you, Cade." Jacob said in a rare moment of maturity. "I've always wanted to see the movieverse firsthand, and Gem was… is the first person to ever care about me. I owe it to her to try."

That was… unexpected, to say the least. I'd assumed that my Plainswalking friends had had fairly regular backgrounds. Here was evidence otherwise. I'd have to ask Jacob about that later.

Getting over my surprise, I nodded at him. "_I'd welcome the company. I presume that you've studied the movieverse, right? I've only seen the first and second films, and only once or twice each."_

Studying the canon of the realms we patrolled was top of a Plainswalker's priority when we were off duty. Why? Generally, the first we'd hear about a Shadow attack would be from a major diversion from the given plot, giving us time to warn Locostral. For example, I had the complete Inheritance Cycle on one of my room's shelves, alongside an ivory dragon carving that I'd found in Utgard, an old outpost of the Riders. If something happened that wasn't in those books, it was either because of me, or a Shadow.

"All three movies, Riders of Berk and Race to the Edge." Jacob said confidently, licking pepperoni off of his nose.

"_You're in." _I said, making Jacob punch his paw in the air with a whoop. "_But I'll be in charge, and you'll stick to me like glue, got it? You and I both know that Night Furies are trophies for the hunters there, and I can't mentally shield you unless you're near me."_

Of course, I could actually go up to a radius of a couple of kilometres in mental range, with less power the further I had to project, but I didn't want Jacob to be shooting all over the place.

"Okay, so what now?" Paddles asked.

"_We go to the Elders, and get them to let us go." _I said.

"There's no need." A synthesised, electronic voice said from where the lift down to city level was.

We were on our various feet and paws moments later.

"Elder Abraxus." We all said, bowing our heads in respect.

"Am I correct in calculating that you four are going to ask permission to search for your Clan leader?" Abraxus said. He was a silver, humanoid robot, and he smelled faintly of oil and polish. He was the first Elder that I'd met, and he seemed like an alright guy.

"_Yessir." _I said quickly. "_Jacob and I were hoping that you would be willing to let us go."_

Abaxus nodded. "I actually came to see whether any of you would be up for going. We were planning to send one of us Elders, although if you two wish to go instead, I won't be the one to stop you."

Jacob jumped up on the table where we had our pizza, ran through it, and leapt off, tackling Abraxus in a hug as we laughed.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" he cried before running an excited circle around the Elder and rushing out of an open window and taking flight, yelling "Come on Cade, let's go!"

I shrugged and walked over to the window, carefully avoiding the cheesy foot prints. Turning to the Elder, who was busy getting back to his feet, I asked "_Will we be going through the realm to realm portal?"_

Abraxus nodded, brushing a stray glob of tomato sauce off of his shoulder. "I'll meet you there and set your destination. In the meantime, you might want to explain where you're going to your Alagaësian friends."

"_Will do." _I said, launching myself out of the window and towards one of the pools of liquid Rift in the distance.

* * *

Back in Alagaësia, I met Saphira as I started packing my stuff into a large sack.

"_What are you doing?" _she asked in confusion.

"_Packing." _I explained, putting everything that wasn't my rucksack into my sack. "_A friend of mine has got herself lost, so I and another friend are going to try and find her. Expect me to be gone for a week, maybe two."_

I hadn't explained the multiverse to my Alagaësian companions, but I'd promised myself that I would, some day. I tried to explain my absences truthfully, but it was hard to do so in a way that wasn't suspicious.

Saphira didn't seem to be happy that I was leaving, but understood that I had to go. "_Good luck. May the winds blow in your favour."_

"_And in yours." _I replied, nudging my backpack over to her.

The bag contained the eldunarí- the heart of hearts- of Islingr, a dragon whose body had perished in the Fall of the Riders, but her mind lived on within the stone. And Saphira and her Rider Eragon would have no idea what it was.

"_I need you to look after this for me." _I explained. "_Whatever happens, you mustn't open it, and you must keep it safe at all costs, got it?"_

"_I understand." _Saphira said, nodding. "_I'll keep this safe for you, although you'll owe me for this."_

"_I'll pay you back in jelly beans when I return." _I said, throwing the now closed sack over my back and fastening the long straps together over my chest.

Saphira said "_Done" _faster than greased lightning, making me smile.

"_See ya!" _I yelled, jumping into the sky.

* * *

A portal later, and I was back with Jacob and Elder Abraxus in Locostral, ready to go through to the How to Train Your Dragon movieverse.

"Okay, we're good to go!" Abraxus said, tapping away at a console to the side of the portal. "Remember, if we don't hear from you within two weeks, we'll assume that a Shadow has kicked your asses and we'll attack en masse. Now, keep your eyes open, noses sniffing and butts clenched, got it?"

Jacob grinned. "Will do!"

With that, Abraxus pulled a large, red lever, and the portal activated, orange light beginning to swirl. Slowly, instead of the kaleidoscope that the Rift usually produced, we saw an orange-tinted image; a small, dragon covered island in the middle of a vast ocean.

"Good luck, and may the force be with you!" Abraxus yelled as Jacob and I ran through the vortex, spreading our wings as we fell into another universe.


	2. Chapter 2: The Search Begins

**Author's note: Okay, so I guess that people are interested in the story. Cool! Here's another chapter.**

**In response to reviews/PMs:**

**Wizzer96:**

**Yes, our (hopefully liked) heroes are in town! The Vikings won't know what hit them!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Inheritance Cycle or HTTYD.**

* * *

**Chapter 2: The search begins**

Berk was an interesting place to fly around. The village was colorful, vibrant, and absolutely smothered with dragons. It was kind of beautiful in a rustic, rural way, but I couldn't shake the thought of how much poop-a-scooping the Vikings must have to do.

"So what's the plan?" Jacob asked as we circled the rocky outcrop.

"_First off, we stay together, whatever happens." _I said. "_Given the state of Berk, this is between the first two movies, right?"_

Jacob evaluated the island, then nodded. "I think so."

"_Okay then." _I said. "_We get ourselves taken in by the Vikings, and ask the local dragons whether Gem's been seen. We keep quiet about what we are and our true intelligence unless we can't find anything. We'll turn to Hiccup after that. The 'keeping quiet' includes you not talking, though. If you need to say something while we're with company, tap your head and I'll open a mental link with you. Think your words, and I'll hear them."_

"_Like this?" _Jacob asked.

"_Yup." _I smiled. "_Now, want to try a dive? That whistle will bring everyone running."_

"Together?" my friend offered, reverting back his normal way of speaking.

"_Sure!"_

With that, we folded our wings and dived, protective membranes subconsciously sliding down over my eyes to protect them from the rapidly increasing force of the wind in my faces. Air slid over Jacob's wings as he pulled ahead of me, producing the distinctive Night Fury shriek. I wasn't too concerned with falling behind. He had speed, but I had stamina, and I could carry much heavier loads than he could, as I was doing now with my stuff, and for further distances.

The two of us shot towards the ground like massive, scaly, black and gold missiles. Not wanting to push my luck too far, I pulled up much earlier than I usually would, leaving me soaring a good hundred meters above the village. Jacob decided to be a bit more daring, skimming the tops of the houses before burning off his excess speed in a large loop as he returned to formation on my right.

"_Good dive." _I congratulated him. "_I'll give you bonus points for how low you went and for scaring the **** out of a bunch of sheep you passed over."_

"_Wait, did they actually crap themselves?" _He asked, a gummy grin on his face as we began to circle the village again, looking for somewhere to land.

"_Can't you smell it?" _I grimaced, my noses wrinkling. "_It's at times like this that I wish that I didn't have my extra snouts."_

Instead of chuckling, he made a low warble, which I interpreted to mean the same thing.

Glancing behind me, I saw a quick flash of black and red, and commented "_Toothless and Hiccup are on our sixth. Think we should wait for them?"_

Jacob gave it some thought before responding. "_No, they'll be curious enough to follow us until we land. Because of me, we'll inevitably attract a crowd, so I'd say that we should land somewhere central, soak up the praise, and get the excitement over and done with. Maybe set something on fire, too."_

I nodded my right head and jerked another towards a large, cobblestoned square in the center of the village. "_How about there? It looks big enough for me."_

Jacob grinned back. "_Big enough for your three heads, fat ass, and giant ego!"_

I rolled my eyes and abruptly changed course, making my companion have to quickly correct his flight path with a muttered curse.

Landing itself wasn't too bad. As I descended, I lowered my legs towards the ground, my body going vertical and wings working overtime to keep me airborne. Touching down, my clawed feet cracked the cobblestones under me because of my weight. In comparison to me, Jacob had it easy. He simply swooped in, transitioning from a graceful glide to his usual, carefree, lolloping run as I thudded down onto all fours.

I grumbled to myself as Jacob shook himself, then bounded over to me as people started to fill the square. The more people there were, the more nervous I became. Thoughts about how this was a bad idea started to fill my mind. I saw weapons on every belt, and in a few hands. I saw tools and machines that had clearly been repurposed from dragon-killing devices. I saw a hard glint in some of the older Viking's eyes as they sized us up. You would have thought that after being around Eragon and Brom for so long, both of who used swords, that I would be used to deadly weapons being in my presence. I wasn't bothered so much by that, but by the wielders of those weapons. I didn't know these people, and I didn't trust them.

We shouldn't have come here. I slowly moved into a defensive stance, raising my heads high, high above the small humans. My spiked, mace-like tails lifted above them and began to rattle like a snake's as I began to softly growl, backing up a step or two in the process.

Hiccup and Toothless choose that moment to land between us and the Berkians, which seemed to placate them a little, but did nothing for my state of mind.

Questions were fired out of the crowd.

"What type of dragons are these, Hiccup?"

"Is that another Night Fury?"

"What's the gold one doing?"

Hiccup decided to answer the last question first as Toothless introduced himself to Jacob with a gummy smile and a wagging tail.

"I think it's an intimidation display." The teen said, motioning for everyone to back up. "If we give him some distance, he should calm down. As for the other one, yes, he's a Night Fury. Toothless seems to be getting on with him well enough."

That was true. Toothless were romping around each other, seemingly in some kind of play-fight. They rough-and-tumbled it around the square, accidentally ploughing through anything in their way.

"Is this a new species, son?" A deep, booming voice asked, presumably referring to me.

The crowd parted and a large, stocky, red-bearded man strode through the gap. This must be Stoick, the chief.

"I think so, Dad." Hiccup said, looking me over again with an awestruck expression. "Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to like us too much."

I growled a little louder, but stopped when I smelled something strange. Not necessarily bad, but still strange. My heads swiveled around, each of them sniffing for whatever it was. Eventually, I pinned it down to some sort of grass that Hiccup was holding in an outstretched hand. It smelled a little like lavender, but had a fiery afterscent to it. Weird.

"_Jacob," _I asked, turning a head towards my companion while another watched Hiccup and yet another scanned the crowd for any threats, "_what's this?"_

My companion briefly glanced at Hiccup before crying "_Dragon nip!" _and lunging for the grass.

Okay, I knew what that was. Though I hadn't been affected by the plant, given Jacob's form, he would be. I blocked his path with a wing and a loud growl. "_You are _not_ getting high on that stuff! We're here to look for Gem, not to mess around!"_

He scowled at me, but didn't object. As I pulled my wing back, he stayed put, but Toothless practically steamrolled Hiccup in his attempt to get to the stuff.

Hiccup managed to escape his friend by chucking the grass aside before getting up and giving me a strange look. "Why aren't you affected?" he whispered.

"Get the two of them moved in first, then find out all you can about them." Stoick ordered. "And see if you can discover who and where the gold one's rider is."

"Rider?" Hiccup echoed.

Stoick pointed at the straps holding my bag onto my back. "Those are man-made, son. Who else would put a load onto a dragon's back other than its rider?"

There was a heavy silence as the crowd eyed me, my bag, and my clear lack of a human accompanying me.

* * *

We had a pleasant tour. The pathways between the houses were too narrow for me to walk down, so the majority of our introduction to Berk was done by air. Away from the large, armed, crowd, I felt much more relaxed. Because of his deep bond with Toothless, Hiccup had realized that dragons were sentient, so he constantly chattered to us in a friendly fashion as we traveled around the island.

To my relief, Jacob and I would be staying together in a sparse, rocky cavern big enough for me to move about freely. Hiccup said that this was going to be built up into a stable for a few families of dragons, but we could sleep here for the duration of our stay. I sniffed around, checking for anything out of the ordinary before I dumped by sack of stuff down, satisfied.

"We'll get some bedding and things in here by this evening." Hiccup said as I walked out, Jacob and Toothless playing around behind us. "I think I've run through everything else. The autofeeders, where the fresh water sources are, not setting fire to anything."

He had, but I listened to him ramble through some points again, not really paying attention as we strolled around the village outskirts. By now, it was mid to late morning, though the sun shone down without warmth. I guess that was because we were somewhere up north.

I heard wings flapping, an argument breaking out, and a lot of snarling. I turned, my three heads baring their teeth in a silent growl, only to find the group of teenagers that followed Hiccup around coming in to land. I only remembered Astrid by name, as she was the only sensible one, but I had no clue for the names of the others. I did remember the species names of the dragons though. There was a blue Deadly Nadder, a red and black Monstrous Nightmare, a brown Gronckle, and a green Hideous Zippleback with yellow spots that seemed incredibly envious of my third head.

As they dismounted, unlike Hiccup, these people kept their weapons in plain sight. There were axes on backs, knives in belts, and hammers in hands. I was growling before I knew I was even doing it, making the teens' dragons all back up a bit. Then I mentally shook myself. Dragons didn't belong to people. We were own masters.

The Deadly Nadder, evidently the leader when Toothless wasn't around, stepped forward and chittered something at me. I cocked my heads to the side in confusion. Was she trying to communicate with me? If so, then I had no idea what she was saying.

I swung a head round to look at Jacob. "_What's she saying?"_

"_She's asking if we're staying." _He replied to me before warbling something back to her.

I let him take over the dragonish conversation and turned my attention back to the humans. And their weapons. They were all caught up in their own conversation and didn't seem to notice.

"These two are here to stay?!" One of the twin ones asked. "That's so cool!"

"I bet that the gold one has, like, a plus three multiplier on its intelligence and a quadruple attack bonus!" The fat one said.

"I still can't believe that we've found another Night Fury!" Astrid exclaimed.

"I think that they found us." Hiccup muttered.

"Wait, what?" The black-haired one asked. "I thought that you brought them in?"

Hiccup shook his head. "I spotted them circling the island long before they decided to land. It was only when they dived that I knew that one of them was a Night Fury. No other dragon produces that screech. As for the gold one, he's more of an enigma."

"Yeah!" The other twin said before turning to their sibling and asking "What's an enigma?"

"Whatever it is, you're not one!" The first twin replied, causing a small fistfight to break out between the two of them. That was amusing to watch, but since the conversation wasn't important, so I focused my attention back to the dragons.

"_What's going on now?" _I asked Jacob as Toothless' eyes widened and he looked at me.

My friend turned towards me and replied "_I've introduced us to the dragons and told them that we're looking for Gem. Toothless said that he thinks that he knows who we're asking for, but he needs more detail than my description. I said that you could talk to him telepathically and show him who we're looking for, and he's a little shocked, but has agreed to let you make contact with him."_

"_I'll give it a go." _I nodded, turning to Toothless and expanding my awareness towards him. He bobbed his head at me, which I took as a cue to start. "_Hi, how's it going?"_

Toothless sat bolt upright and stared at me with wide eyes.

"_I think that you overdid it." _Jacob said before warbling something reassuring to the green-eyed Night Fury.

"_Keep calm." _I added helpfully. "_Remember to breathe. I do this all the time and it's completely safe. No need to panic."_

"_Your speak-not-speak is strange." _Was all I got in response.

"_Yeah," _I replied, "_but it's better than not having a voice at all. It was weird to start off with, but I got used to it."_

"_Pfft." _Jacob said. "_It's not _that _weird. I know a guy who's a squid. He has to use sign language with his tentacles, and it's a pain in the ass to understand him."_

"_Huh. You learn something new every day." _I murmured. Then I reminded myself that I wasn't here to chat. "_We're searching for Gem, our clan leader." _I said, projecting a mental image of her to Toothless.

I could see him scrunch up his face as he thought back through his memories, which was kind of cute, in a strange way. "_When you see her last?"_

"_About a month ago." _Jacob said. "_She disappeared before we were scheduled to meet up the next week."_

Toothless nodded. "_Me think me remember her. Was shy, though sometimes she followed me or Night-Rider around. Me not seen her for many weeks, though."_

"_That sounds like her." _I said. In reality, Gem wasn't shy, but what she'd been doing here fit in well with the standard Plainswalker protocol; observe, but try not to influence too much.

"_Were there any places she went to frequently?" _Jacob asked. "_Maybe we could try to track her down by scent."_

I shook my heads. "_Scents won't last for long out here. There are too many dragons here for any sort of smell to be able to linger, and the winds will have blown around any airborne smells too thinly for us to pick them up. It might be worth seeing where she stayed though. Perhaps there's some sort of clue there."_

"_I can take you to her den." _Toothless said confidently. "_But Night-Rider and young pack will want to know you first."_

"_Wait, who's Night-Rider?" _I asked. "_And what do you mean he'll want to 'know me'?"_

"_He means Hiccup, dumbass." _Jacob said as Toothless nodded. "_He's a Night Fury, so Hiccup is Night-Rider."_

"_Wasn't that an eighties TV show?"_

Jacob tried to shrug, but given that he didn't have shoulders in the same way that I had, the motion was a little wasted. "_I dunno, but that's beside the point. As for Hiccup- sorry, Night-Rider, and the other riders wanting to 'know you', they keep track of every species that they come across. They'll want to measure your wingspan and length and stuff, as well as any extra abilities that you have."_

"_So my extra heads and tail, lightning bolts and being able to get struck by the stuff without taking damage?"_

"_All that jazz."_

Though I didn't like it, I knew that just getting it over and done with would be for the best. _"Fine. Where should I go to get this over and done with?"_

"_Me lead!" _Toothless cried, bounding off towards a wooden bridge that spanned a large drop between two of the island's cliffs, the sea crashing against their sides far below.

Jacob scampered after him, and I followed at a walk. My large stride was more than enough to keep up with their pace. The riders and the dragons followed behind us, far enough to give me space, but not far enough to be out of earshot.

"What was all that about?" Astrid asked. "It was like Goldie was talking with Toothless and… sorry, what are we calling the other Fury?"

Turning one of my heads to the sky, I silently prayed "_For the love of everything in Locostral, please don't let my nickname be Goldie! I'd even take Three-Face over Goldie!"_

"Scissorfang!" One of the twins said.

"No, Ice-Eye!" The other twin countered.

"Blastbox!" The black-haired guy volunteered.

"Trueshot!" The fat one said.

"We'll run all of those by him." Hiccup said before turning to Astrid, "It did look like they were communicating though."

"Uh, they weren't roaring at each other though." The black-haired guy said.

"Any thoughts, Fishlegs?" Hiccup asked.

"Maybe they're talking through their body language." The fat one suggested. Okay, so he was Fishlegs. "Or maybe they're communicating at a pitch that we can't hear."

"So where do you think that Goldie-" Someone started before I whipped all three heads around and growled.

The Vikings all took a step back. "I don't think that he likes his nickname." Fishlegs warned them nervously.

"Suggestions?" Hiccup asked quietly.

"Triple-Threat!"

That wasn't that bad, but I still growled at it.

"Macetails!"

I paused to consider, then growled again. The name sounded cool, but it just wasn't me.

"Snotbox!"

What ****ed mind had that came from? And how?

"Snotlout!" Astrid hissed, picking up on my rising anger. "Just why?"

"He's got three noses." The black-haired guy said proudly, turning his back on me to face the group. "So if he gets ill, he produces three times as much snot!"

Snotlout took the award for being the first Viking to **** me off right there. My growls rising in volume, I began to start flickering electricity over my body. Golden streams of current spiralled up my necks and my eyes started to glow their dangerous yellow. The air began to smell of ozone, and I began to build up energy for a shot in my centre head.

My intention wasn't to kill him, but the Vikings didn't know that. They and their draconic companions all took cover as Snotlout turned around to face me, his expression from a proud grin to 'oh, ****' as I let my lightning loose.

Lightning might be an exaggeration. Instead of my full-on, heart-stopping, brain-frying beam, I released about the same amount of energy as was used in a taser. Snotlout didn't even have time to dodge. My bolt of electricity hit him square in the chest and he went down like a sack of potatoes. I also had the immense satisfaction of seeing him do the funky chicken on the floor as he lost almost all of his muscle control, meaning that he barely managed to curse at me.

Resisting the urge to laugh, I turned back towards Toothless and Jacob, who were halfway across the bridge. Looking at the thing, I could tell that it wasn't going to take my weight, so I spread my wings and flew over the gap, leaving the other teens to help out their fallen friend.


	3. Chapter 3: Seeking clues

**Author's note: I'm gonna give this story priority over TBL for the time being. Some stuff in this will lead into that, such as a new ability for Cade to change size, so it makes sense for this to come before that. Anyway, a new chapter awaits! ONWARD!**

**In response to reviews:**

**dragonlord174: Glad to know you're enjoying this! As for not much happening in TBL, sorry, it's just the way the storyline rolls. This is probably better as I have more freedom to tell my own story, rather than follow a set-out plot. I'm also glad that you like Jacob. I kinda feel that Cade/Ghidorah is a bit too serious at times, so I wanted a character who was more carefree.**

**MoosHeadFamLit: Yup, crossover-ception is in effect. Run and hide everyone living in the universes involved. Run and hide. Glad you found the 'Snotbox' thing funny.**

**Blaze1992: Yeah, I'm limited in plot choices, but this was intended to be a short story from the start, not a massive saga.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD or the IC.**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Seeking clues.**

When we finally reached the place that the teens were going to study me, I was surprised to see the old 'kill ring' from the first movie. The chains covering the roof were gone, and the massive rock doors had been replaced with wooden ones that had dragon carvings on them. Because of my size, I laid down outside of it while Jacob and Toothless chased each other around.

Despite the new décor, I could still see the signs that this had been used as a place to fight dragons. There were the inevitable marks showing where claws had scraped the rock, dark scorch marks where fireballs had hit the walls, and the occasional dark stain of blood. How many dragons had been killed in this place? How many people too? I traced one of my clawed hands over a blast mark when the teens and the dragons finally found their way into the ring.

I was happy to see that Snotlout had gone, as had the Monstrous Nightmare. Hopefully I'd put him out of commission for a few days. Satisfied that everything was alright, I resumed staring at the walls as the teens began to open the various doors and bring out various items.

Well, the other teens fetched stuff as Hiccup just stared at me. I could see the gears turning in his head, trying to figure me out. I subtly checked that nobody else was watching, then flashed him a quick grin and a wink from my right head. His eyes widened and his mouth opened in shock as I chuckled and went back to looking around the ring, quietly humming the Lord of the Rings theme. I knew that I was supposed to be keeping a low profile, but if I was going to be added to the book of dragons, then I'd damn well make sure that they got the entry right.

Five minutes later and everyone was ready. First off, they measured me from my central nose to the middle of the space between my tails. Then it was my impressive wingspan, the length of my jaw, and the distance of each individual neck. The teens seemed surprised by my compliance as Fishlegs jotted down my dimensions, and started an argument about how clever I actually was. I pretended not to notice as I watched Toothless dragging around Jacob by the tail. Wonder what that was about.

Next up was the eel test. Every dragon in my presence instantly screeched, recoiled, and prepared to run, even Jacob. To my eternal smugness, I not only gave it a completely relaxed look, but took it out of the hand that was holding it (Astrid's) and ate it. It tasted tingly, like popping candy, and I chewed on it thoughtfully as I decided whether I liked it or not. Swallowing, I decided that it was okay, but I'd eaten stuff that tasted better.

The teens' reactions were… varied. Ruffnut and Tuffnut's jaws were dangling so low that they were in legitimate danger of dropping off. Fishlegs had started eating his notebook. Astrid looked like someone had slapped her. And Hiccup… Hiccup was smiling broadly.

"Better note that down, Fishlegs." He commented with a grin as I let out a yawn. Could they get this done faster? I had **** to do!

Thankfully, they did the rest of the tests fairly quickly, like my ability to track, how well I could fly, and how agile I was on the ground. Then came the ones that tested my intelligence. I breezed through the first dozen and was almost bored by the time Tic Tac Toe came up. Now that was interesting. I hadn't expected them to have something of this level.

While Hiccup was attempting to explain the rules, I pushed one of the rings over to the board and laid it on the centre square. Once again, like all the other challenges I'd endured, everyone's jaw hit the ground. Hiccup was the only one who expected this by now, and placed a cross in the bottom-left corner. I played a circle in the top-left. Hiccup raised an eyebrow and placed a cross in the middle of the bottom row. I took the bottom-left with a smirk. I had him now. Hiccup saw part of what I was doing and placed a cross in the top-right. I relaxed into three grins, placed a last circle into the leftmost box of the middle row, and straightened up.

Hiccup was about to play his next cross when he looked at the board and saw my winning line. From his reaction, I don't think that he'd ever been outwitted by a dragon before. I started whistling happily as the teens descended into another argument about how clever I really was. To be honest though, I was bored. If I had to do more of these intelligence tests, I'd go flying just to alleviate my boredom.

Fortunately for the teens, we changed over to a different subject. Firepower. When I heard that word, my heads instantly started searching for a target. Snotlout wasn't around, so I had to find something else to shoot at. The teens kept on trying to make me shoot at one of their shields that was propped on a stand, but I knew that wouldn't be a true show of what I was capable of. Eventually, I settled on a boulder that was about the size of a double-decker bus that was about a kilometre away, nestled in a small valley.

I closed my eyes and drew on the power that I had. Electricity began to flare over my body, yellow sparks jumping over my scales as I reared up on my hind legs. I spread my wings, and I felt a tingling that was similar to the build-up of static electricity when you rub a balloon against your skin. My necks began to glow with the buildup of energy, yellow light pulsing at rapid intervals. My eyes lit up the same harsh colour as I reopened them and raised my heads to fire.

Before I let lose, I quickly called to Jacob "_I'm firin' mah lazah!"_ which made him have to cover his mouth with his paws to prevent himself from laughing.

Three brilliant streams of lightning poured from my mouths and at the rock, shining with the intensity of the sun. The beams weren't straight lines like a laser, but jagged, seeking their own paths at random. That being said, they all hit the target at the exact position that I'd aimed at, kicking up a massive plume of dust when they hit. I let the beams crackle on for a few seconds more before releasing them, crashing back down to all fours.

"What effect did the shot have?" Fishlegs asked, his eyes wide. "I can't see a thing through that dust."

"Let's fly over there and check it out!" Tuffnut said. He and his sister were practically drooling at my power, but I didn't give them time to gush over me. I followed the suggestion, taking off towards the site of my target.

* * *

'Annihilation' didn't describe how much damage I'd done. My three beams had torn through the rock, blackening and charring everything they hit. The rock itself was now mostly the dust floating through the air. Where it had been, a large and deep crater now smoldered into the chilly air, with the occasional flicker of charge here and there. The smell of ozone filled the air.

The amount of power I had was impressive. I'd let off a full blast, and I only felt a little tired, like I'd been out for a jog or something. Hmm… I wonder…

"Sweet Odin's Ghost…" Astrid commented as she saw the devastation.

"What does this rank our friend as in the Book of Dragons, Fishlegs?" Hiccup asked, poking his prosthetic at an ashy log that crumbled away under his touch."

"Um." Fishlegs squeaked. "He's a combination of the Strike, Tracker _and_ Fear Classes. As far as I can figure, the rest of his stats line up as… Attack: 64. Speed: 10. Armour: 22. Firepower: 80. Shot Limit:-"

At that point, I just started zapping the surrounding area with my lower powered bolts. I had no shot limit, and I'd show that the only way I could. I went on for quite a while, until Hiccup yelled "Okay, we get the point!" over the noise of my lightning.

As I finally stopped, a trembling Fishlegs gulped and stuttered "Sh-sh-shot L-l-limit: U-u-unlimited. V-v-venom: N-none. Jaw Strength: 21 times 3. Stealth: 3."

Huh. I turned to Jacob and asked "_That's a fairly good lineup, right?"_

He nodded. "_You're practically God among dragons. You surpass The Red Death and The Berwilderbeast in everything except armour, and I only beat you in Speed and Stealth."_

Fishlegs kept on spewing information. "He's intelligent to the level of a human-"

I snorted smugly. Damn right.

"-but it has been observed that he could be holding back for some reason. He also has no issue with eels, is capable of using his three heads separately or together, and shoots lightning instead of fire. As well as that, he doesn't react well towards insults, and can lower the power of his lightning to immobilize his target. Despite all this, he seems to be tameable-"

Yeah, right. They were just lucky that I was a Plainswalker and not King Ghidorah himself. He'd fry their asses off if he heard that.

"-due to the large load that he was carrying when he arrived, which must have aquired by his rider. He seems to be able to understand Norse-"

Was this Norse? It just sounded like regular English to me.

"-and likes to show off."

Seriously? I was just showcasing my abilities, something which you _asked_ me to do! Jeez.

"He has a great sense of smell due to his three heads, which also allow him to detect and react to threats much easier than other dragons. And I think that's everything."

"Are you sure?" Astrid asked. "What about the fact that he came to Berk with a Night Fury? What's with that?"

Fishlegs spread his hands. "I have no idea."

"Well, if he can _understand _us," Ruffnut said mockingly, "then why don't we ask him?"

Though the comment wasn't directed at me, my three heads still whipped around to face her and growled menacingly. I advanced a step or two, making the young Viking hurriedly stumble backwards.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Of course you can understand us!" she yelped. "My mistake! Please don't zap me!"

I smirked. You'd better be scared of me!

Turning to Jacob and Toothless, I asked "_Can we go now? I've done all the tests and blown **** up. Please tell me I'm finished."_

"_Us done." _Toothless said. _"Now me show you den of your friend."_

With that, he bounded off, Jacob and I hot on his heels. We had a job to do.

* * *

Gem's place was very out of the way. You wouldn't have been able to find it unless you were looking for it, and even then, it would have been difficult. It was a cave that was halfway up a mountain (evidently, Gem had a liking for mountains), and even though there was a small path leading up to it, there was a gigantic boulder that had to be rolled aside to allow for us to enter.

"_Me never been in here." _Toothless told me as I pushed the boulder out of the way, grunting at the effort.

"_So you have no idea what's inside?" _I asked.

"_None."_

The boulder crunched into a place that had probably been made for it and we all peeked inside the cave. Inside was a the standard Berkian arrangement for accommodating dragons; A straw-covered floor, a stone bowl filled with water, and a large slab that could be heated and acted as a bed for most dragons.

"_Well," _Jacob said despondently as he looked around the den for anything we could use as a clue, "_We're screwed."_

I didn't comment as I stomped inside and started a thorough search. My eyes scanned the room, looking for anything that might be useful as my noses took in the various smells and scents. Gem had definitely been here, I knew that for sure, but the scent had faded a lot. Not surprising, given that it had been around a month since we'd last seen her. Jacob also came in to have a look around, as did Toothless, and the three of us began looking for a possible needle in a haystack.

* * *

Half an hour later, and we still hadn't found anything that could help us. I'd even lifted the rock slab and looked under it, and the two Night Furies had sifted through the straw.

"This is useless!" Jacob yelled angrily, reverting to English in his frustration, which made Toothless jump back in shock.

"_You _speak_ human-talk!" _He asked in amazement as Jacob stomped out.

"_Jacob does." _I confirmed. "_I have to settle with this."_

"_But why you not tell?" _Toothless pressed me. "_For both your talks?"_

"_We want to keep a low profile." _I said. "_Dragons here can't speak to humans, so we're fitting in with you guys. We don't want to be noticed by the wrong people. Does that make sense to you?"_

Toothless nodded as we followed Jacob into the light, and I rolled the boulder shut behind us.

"So what do we do now?" Jacob asked. He'd flumped down in the grass and was trying to calm himself down.

I took a deep breath and tried to figure that out. Speaking to him privately, I asked "_Would it be possible that Gem got lured in by one of those Alphas? The Be-watsits?"_

"_A Bewilderbeast." _He corrected, sighing. "_Possibly. But the only Bewilderbeast that would do that is-"_

"_Drago's." _I replied.

"_But we'd have to look all over the place for it!" _he moaned. "_That could take years!"_

"_No, it won't." _I pointed out. "_The Bewilderbeast attacks that dragon sanctuary, then heads here. We can wait here for it. If we want to save lives, then we find the sanctuary, take up residence there for a bit, then I'll kick the Berwilderbeast's ass when it shows up. If it all goes good, we'll find Gem there, and then the three of us can get back to Locostral and party."_

Jacob perked up a little. _"But how do we find the sanctuary?"_

"_Simple." _I said. "_We stick with Hiccup and Toothless."_

Jacob tilted his head to the side before nodding. "_That'd work. Why didn't I think of all that?"_

"_Because I'm a strategist and you're an adrenaline seeker." _I replied with a smirk before adding Toothless back into the loop. Turning to him, I said "_There's nothing here that helps us, but we have a plan."_

"_What is plan?" _Toothless asked.

"_Stick to you like glue and blow **** up when everything goes to ****." _I answered honestly.

He stared at me blankly. "_For real, what is plan?"_

"_That is the plan." _Jacob said plainly as he got back to his feet.

Toothless gaped at us. "_That… that is not expected."_ he said finally.

"_I know it sounds weird," _I said, "_but it'll make sense in the end."_

Toothless was about to reply when Jacob warbled something at him and the two happily bounded away.

When I was about to ask where they were going, Jacob said "_We're going to go prank some people! I'll see you later!"_

Chuckling to myself, I let them go. I wouldn't stomp on their fun. But…

"_Two conditions." _I said, making them stop their charge towards Berk village and turn back towards me. "_One: Don't make me your target. And two, tell me about what you did."_

"_Done and done!" _Jacob said before he and Toothless resumed running towards the village.

That just left me to decide what the heck I was supposed to do with myself for the rest of the day. Thinking about it from three brains brought up some… interesting options, but I eventually settled on videogames, but with the volume muted so that nobody would be able to catch me playing. Usually, I didn't care about bringing technology into other realms, but since this wasn't the realm that I patrolled, I was going to have to be a bit more careful about upholding the Prime Directive.

* * *

I had decided to go back to the stable that had been assigned for Jacob and I on foot, since I never really walked anywhere anymore. Flying was always fun, but I just fancied a change in pace. Because of that, there was no telltale _thud_ of me landing, which explained what I found next.

As I turned the corner into the large, rocky cavern, I found that the teens (with the exception of Snotlout) had opened my bag, carelessly littered my stuff all over the floor, and somehow managed to fire up the holo-projector. My jaws fell open in shock, then slammed shut into three silent snarls as fury swelled within me.

I was too angry to growl. I was too angry to roar. Instead, my eyes flashed the same colour as my lightning bolts as the teens turned towards me, their faces turning to expressions of fear and guilt.

"_What," _I thundered dangerously calmly, the force of my mental transmission slamming into the Vikings, "_the everlasting **** are you doing with my stuff? And yes, I_ can _understand you. Surprise, __mother****ers."_


	4. Chapter 4: You broke my cover!

**Author's note: And I'm back with another chapter! This will mark the merging of the story with the second movie's plotline. Also, if you're here from Trial By Lightning (which you should be), and if you like the Plainswalker Multiverse (which you probably do), I've set up a Discord server for it. Find the invite link in my profile. Anyway, there's a new chapter ahead! Enjoy!**

**In response to reviews:**

**MoosHeadFamLit: Yup, there will be a lot more 'lazah'ing later on!**

**Wizzer96: Well, Cade might not be on a level with Amara or Darius, but I'd still say that he's basically a god compared to the other species of dragons in the HTTYD movieverse. Also, Cade's full size is about 3 times bigger than he is now.**

**Blaze1992: Well yeah, it was a dumb decision on Cade's part.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD or the IC**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Why are **_**you **_**freaking out?! **_**You**_** blew **_**my**_** cover!**

There was a few seconds of silence as the teens frantically gaped at me, then each other, then at my stuff that they had strewn all over the floor, then back to me.

"_ANSWER ME!" _I roared at them, rearing up and slamming back to the floor as my patience gave out.

"Well, um, we thought that, er, you had a rider, uh, and we wanted to see what had happened to them." Hiccup explained, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "I suggested that we look through… ahem, your stuff to find a clue about them."

I tried to control myself and had to settle with facepalming my left head, turned my middle head to the ceiling and sighed through it, and rolled the eyes of my right head in exasperation. I pointed the teens to the side of the cave, began sorting through my possessions, and started to think about how I could salvage the situation.

My ideas about keeping a low profile had been masterfully screwed up. I alerted Jacob, who was in the middle of setting up a catapult to launch a bag of flour through Snotlout's bedroom window and onto the teen, and told him to meet me immediately. He responded that he'd come, but he didn't seem pleased about it. How the hell could I spin this to my advantage?

I slipped most of my stuff back into my large bag, but stopped when I saw a knife embedded into the holo-projector. The projector was still running, which was a testament to Locostral engineering, but I was still ****ed off enough to break into the minds of the five Vikings that were present to find out who had done it. A quick scan of their memories for the last forty five minutes gave me the answer.

"_You." _I said, pointing at Astrid. "_Why the **** did you decide to attack my holo-projector?"_

"How did you know?" Astrid said, trying to keep calm, but not denying that she'd done it. People who weren't trained to defend their mind wouldn't even notice that I'd just skimmed

I rolled all six of my eyes. "_You think that all I can do is talk to you with my mind? I can scan through your memory, create and delete memories, and take full control of your body. Test me, and I will become your worst nightmare, figuratively and literally."_

"Yeah, right." Tuffunt half smirked. "Mind control? That doesn't-"

I took control of his mouth to shut him up.

"_See." _I grinned savagely as I released my hold over him. "_You're lucky I'm restraining myself. If you want a better demo, then I'd be happy to oblige. Either do something stupid, or volunteer. I'm not picky."_

Jacob stuck his head round the door and took in the scene.

"_Jacob, they found out." _I told him plainly as I glanced in his direction.

"I can see that Cade." He said as he walked in, making the teens gasp. "It's your own fault, too. You willingly left all your belongings unsupervised in a place that you've never been? You're a dumbass."

"_Yeah, yeah, I should have put a padlock on my bag somehow." _I agreed. "_The question is, what do we do now?"_

"Can't you mind-wipe them or something?" Jacob asked, making the Vikings' eyes widen.

"_I don't know._" I replied. "_I probably could, but I've had no practice with that ability, and it seems a little too extreme to me. I could delete the wrong part, or not delete all of it. Imagine if I deleted the realisation that dragon's aren't monsters. They'd go out and kill as many dragons as possible. That would screw a lot of **** up."_

"Fair point." The blue-eyed Night Fury conceded. "So what can we do? Just trust them to keep quiet about us?"

"I'd prefer that over memory wiping." Fishlegs offered timidly.

I rubbed at my temples and tried to think. "_Plan B was to ask the Vikings about where Gem's gone if none of the local dragons knew anything. We can resort to that, then make them promise not to tell anyone."_

"I'm for it if you are." Jacob said supportively.

"_Right."_ I replied. "_You fill them in, I'll clean this away."_

"How much do I fill them in on?"

"_Who we are, why we're here, and who we're looking for. Nothing to do with HTTYD 2 or 3."_

"Right. Well…"

I tuned out his conversation as I went back to clearing everything up. Jacob was right. This was my fault. I'd brought my stuff here and left it lying around. I sighed and tried to get a control of my temper. This wasn't who I was. I didn't like going around and threatening people unless they deserved it. For goodness sake, I'd just casually talked about wiping people's memories! That was definitely not the regular me talking.

Quickly pushing everything into my bag, I told Jacob "_I'm not feeling… right. I need to take a walk."_

"Go for it, man." He said, glancing at me. "I'll make sure that these guys are fully up to date, and that your stuff is guarded so this doesn't happen again. Take a break."

Nodding my thanks, I quickly ducked outside. Fresh air hit me like a smack to my faces. It felt better, but it wasn't enough. I didn't really have a plan on where I was going, but I just concentrated on putting one foot or hand in front of another. Breathe in, breathe out. Don't go nuclear. Nice and simple.

* * *

Eventually, I found myself wandering over a beach a few hours later. Stopping, I looked out to sea and sighed. I took in the smell of the sea breeze, the salty scent that carried off the waves. The waves swished in and out. I remembered two times in my life that I had smelled this before. The first was at Hawaii, when I had gone surfing, sailing, and snorkeling as a human. The second was at Alagaësia's western coast, where I'd swum, sailed, and soared as a dragon.

"Reminiscing?" Hiccup asked as he walked down the beach towards me.

"_Yup." _I replied. "_Sorry about earlier."_

"Well, I would say 'it's okay', but there were a lot of death threats involved."

I snorted through all three of my noses, suppressing a chuckle. "_That there were. Again, sorry. I don't… I don't really know why I did that."_

"We all have bad days." Hiccup said, sitting down on top of a seaweed-covered rock. "For the record, I'm sorry too. It was my idea to look through your possessions, and that isn't what a host does to their guest."

"_Gotta say, my worst day was the one where I died." _I pointed out. "_Whatever happens to you, do not get eaten alive. It hurts."_

"What was death like?" my he asked curiously.

I shuddered. "_Cold, dark, bleak. I got stuck in this in-between place. I was shown flashes of what must have happened after I died. I saw my friends, my funeral…" _I trailed off, looking out to sea.

"I bet that waking up as a dragon was disconcerting."

I looked over at Hiccup and nodded. "_Panic attack, followed by denial, followed by the realisation that getting back home was impossible, followed by mourning, followed by a long, painful period of learning how to control my new body."_

"Huh."

We both stared out at the sun setting into the waves. The skies began to turn orange and pink, the clouds reflecting the colours with a wispy tint. Dragons flew here and there, adding small splotches of colour to the canvas of the sky, but not diminishing from it as the sun dipped closer and closer to the horizon, the sea breeze gently blowing and birds quietly calling.

Eventually darkness fell, and I gave Hiccup a ride back to the village as the evening began to take hold. The flight itself was quiet, apart from a Zippleback that had no idea what personal space meant, making me have to discourage it with a warning lightning bolt. It seemed to get the message after that, and it veered off sharpish as I dropped Hiccup off outside his house, then made my way to the cave that Jacob and I were sharing for the duration of our stay here.

Jacob greeted me with a snort, tossed me one of the massive sheets of cloth that I'd started carrying around with me as something to sleep under, and started a horror movie up on the holo-projector. We didn't say anything to each other as the movie played, only watched and laughed as the characters were lured off and killed in grizzly ways.

* * *

The next day, I woke late. Very late. And it was only because of Jacob roaring into one of my ears at maximum volume and point-blank range.

"_HOLY ****!" _I yelled as I sprang upwards, fell over myself and the blanket that I'd tangled myself in, and collapsed with a thud that sounded like a cannon firing. "_The **** was that for?!"_

"Today! The second movie starts today!" He yelled at me frantically.

It took me a second to realise what he was talking about. Then my brains kicked into gear and I remembered what I was doing here.

"_How far along are we?!" _I demanded.

"After Hiccup, Toothless, Astrid, and Stormfly see the remains of the dragon trappers' fortress, but before they find the boat. Hiccup's explaining things to his dad, so we've got to go _now_ if we want to keep up with them."

"_Then let's fly!" _I said, stuffing my remaining possessions into a bag and chucking the bundle onto my back.

Together, the two of us charged out of the cave we were staying in at a run. Our wings began to beat, Jacob's quick and swift, while mine were slow and strong. We banked towards the main stables and saw Toothless rocket out, quickly followed by Stormfly. I could hear Stoick yelling Hiccup's name as the two dragons soared northward, but the doors to the stables had slammed shut, cutting off his shout.

Jacob fell into formation alongside Toothless while I settled myself behind the three smaller dragons. The two teens looked over at us and Jacob waved back with a gummy smile.

"_Thought we could give you a hand!" _I explained, settling into a more stable pace. "_Heavy artillery and stuff for if you go into aggressive negotiations with Drago."_

"You know where we're going?" Astrid asked. "How?"

I deadpanned at her.

"Right." She said. "Stupid question."

"So, how are we going to find Drago?" Jacob asked, feigning ignorance.

"We find the Trappers and convince them to take us to him." Hiccup replied.

The six of us flew on for a few minutes more before I said "_I spy, with my six eyes…"_

* * *

It took us a few hours before we found the Trappers. We had retraced Hiccup, Toothless, Astrid and Stormfly's path back to the Trappers' fortress. Nobody was home, but I managed to pick up the scent of a boat that had set off a while ago. We followed that until we actually saw the boat, sailing out into the icy, open ocean from a gap between barren cliffs.

"Astrid and I will take this." Hiccup said to Jacob and me.

"_Let me make the first pass." _I argued. _"They'll have net launchers and whatever, so I'll draw their fire. I'm too big to get shot down."_

"Alright." Astrid shrugged. "Go ahead."

I smiled and went for the attack. I pumped my wings hard, making me shoot ahead of my companions. I rose a few dozen meters, then dove at the small ship.

I could hear someone yelling "Keep your eyes peeled lads! With this wind, we'll reach Drago by daybreak tomorrow, so best we fill up this ship with dragons, and quick! This is no time to be picky, not if we want to keep our…"

Whoever it was trailed off as I roared in a mixture of anger and excitement.

I'm pretty sure that something else was said in the movie, but instead there was a whimper of "Oh, ****."

A couple of nets were launched, but I blasted them out of the sky before taking out the launchers with a few low-powered shots. The immediate threats taken out, I peeled off and began to circle the boat. There was no question about landing on it, especially since I was bigger than the thing.

I did however, keep the trappers occupied enough to allow the others to land on the ship. I kept on flying circuits around the perimeter. There was some kind of conversation, but I didn't pay much attention to it. Instead, I concentrated on the rapidly growing dots that were on the horizon.

I broke off from circling the ship and hovered, squinting at the blotches of colour. Red, green, brown, orange, and a mixture of green and red.

"_We've got incoming!" _I warned my companions. "_Monstrous Nightmare, Gronckle, Hideous Zippleback, and two others that I don't know the names of, complete with riders. Probably your friends from Berk."_

It was true. I identified Snotlout from his planet-sized ego alone, and my eyes narrowed. Ruffnut and Tuffnut also came flying in, as did Fishlegs, Stoick, and the guy who ran the forge, but I couldn't remember the name of. I growled at Snotlout, but grudgingly let the company pass. Nobody gave me a second glance, which made me think that the teens had kept their promise and hadn't told anyone about me or Jacob.

I kept my eyes on the skies as a lot of shouting came from the boat, the new arrivals having landed on it. Hiccup and Toothless suddenly shot into the sky, Jacob following closely behind. I instantly changed course to follow them, quickly rising through the air with massive beats of my wings.

"_Get chewed out?" _I asked Hiccup as I pulled up on his right side.

He didn't answer until we broke through the clouds and into a gold-tinted sky. "AARGH!"

Toothless let out a concerned warble, and tried to glance back at Hiccup as the human laid flat on his partner's back.

"Don't worry bud." Hiccup said, misinterpreting Toothless' concern as being about Drago rather than the mental health of his rider. "I won't let anything happen to you."

I suddenly tensed and started scanning the clouds below me. After a few seconds, so did Jacob and Toothless. We had all detected the same thing. Dragons, and a lot of them.

"_Pull up!" _I ordered, and the three of us did, with Hiccup sitting back up in the saddle.

Below us, a figure in spiky, blue and green leather armour slowly rose through the clouds as if flying by magic. Jacob and I glanced at each other.

"_That's Hiccup's Mom, right?" _I asked him privately.

"_Yep." _He replied. After a few seconds, he went on to say "_Do you think she looked hot in the films?"_

"_Dude!" _I said, whipping a shocked head around to face him. "_Don't even think about going there!" _

Jacob rolled his eyes as the armoured figure descended below the clouds again. "_Yeah, I know, it wouldn't work. But I still think she's hot."_

"_I hate you." _I grumbled.

"_Same back at you, Three Face."_

Suddenly, a massive, four winged dragon burst through the clouds in front and below us, forcing us to stop and hover in place. The new dragon had a flat face with owl-like eyes, and it had orange spikes running down its body that were tipped with blue. Satisfyingly, I was at least three times his size, but I tried to keep my faces calm and emotionless.

He did a complete circle around us before returning to his original position, Hiccup's mother pointing a long staff at us the entire time.

"Hold on." Hiccup murmured to Toothless. "Hold on."

Suddenly, a load of dragons blindsided us, a bunch of them swarming me while Jacob dove down to evade the two that were heading for him. Hiccup was snatched off of Toothless, and the Night Fury plummeted towards the sea as his prosthetic tailfin went limp.

I ordered "_Jacob, follow Hiccup! I'll get Toothless!" _before bringing the pain to my attackers.

I tried to hold back on how much voltage I put out in each bolt, but the dragons that I hit wouldn't be very aware of anything for a while. Other dragons dove to catch their fallen comrades, but I didn't care. I shot downwards towards the flailing form of Toothless, who was trying to flip himself around to use his wings as a parachute.

The wind and Hiccup's helpless scream howled in my ears as I dove, inching closer and closer to the falling Fury. The ice-covered ocean was hurtling towards us like a truck by now. There was no time for finesse.

I stretched out my centre head as far as I could as the cold, dark sea rushed up towards us and yelled "_Grab on! Hook your claws in or something, but hold on to me! We're gonna pull a lot of gees from this move!"_

"_Me hear you!" _Toothless replied, grabbing onto my snout.

He scrambled down my neck before quickly turning when he'd reached my back. He hooked his claws between my scales as I had suggested. I gritted my teeth, snapped my wings out, and pulled up hard.

I roared in pain as the wind snapped against my wing membranes, trying its best to tear them apart as I tried to change our course. Instead of slamming into the ice floe and breaking through it into the freezing sea, I managed to pull us up just enough to slide across the bumpy 'bergs. I drove my claws into the ice in an attempt to stop our skid, spewing shards of ice everywhere. We eventually slowed to a complete stop by slamming against the side of a miniature cliff. We just laid there for a moment, our chests heaving from effort on my part and adrenaline on Toothless'.

"_Let's…" _I panted, "_Let's never do that again."_

"_Me agree." _Toothless said, unhooking his now blood-stained claws from my back, the scales closing up behind them and becoming whole again. "_Me agree very much. Now let us find Night-Rider and Night-Realmer."_

"_Just gimme a sec." _I groaned from where I lay, not even attempting to get up as the flight of dragons flew off to the east. "_Gimme a long sec."_


	5. Chapter 5: Sanctuary

**Author's note: We got a couple of people on the discord server! I'm both pleased and astonished that people like my stuff enough to go there. Anyway, another chapter is here, with more dialog than action this time. Enjoy!**

**In response to reviews:**

**Blaze1992: As cool as it would be, I can't have tasering as the result for **_**everything**_**!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD or the IC**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Sanctuary.**

Toothless and I reunited with Jacob and Hiccup at the exact moment Valka said "But a mother… never forgets."

I'd given Toothless a ride from the ice floe, which he seemed to find quite funny, and I'd tracked Hiccup and Jacob's scents back to the dragon sanctuary. The squeeze through the caves was very tight, and delayed us a lot, but we eventually got through to our friends.

"_Honestly," _I said as I slammed onto the stone floor, the dragons scattering as I landed, "_Darth Vader's reveal as Luke's father was better."_

"Really? You just had to spoil the moment, didn't you?" Jacob mock complained as Toothless bounded over to Hiccup and curled around him possessively.

"_Yes I did." _I said proudly.

"Why are we friends?" He groaned.

"_Because we live in the same mountain."_

"Oh, right."

"_And I sometimes help you prank people."_

"Yeah, that's probably why." Jacob smiled.

"_Anyway, back on task. Have you asked any of these dragons about whether they've seen Gem?"_

"Well, I was going to get to that, but I haven't been here for long. Besides, I like being where my form belongs."

I wondered what that was like. "_You're lucky. You don't have to worry about Godzilla blasting you into the next realm."_

Throughout our exchange, Valka was staring at us with her mouth open. "They… they talk?!"

Jacob turned to her and waved. "Wassup."

I rolled my eyes and dragged Jacob away before he could say anything else, following the other dragons through a long and extensive tunnel system.

"Where are we going?" He asked from beside me as we started climbing a steep, moss-covered incline. "Are we gonna see the Bewilderbeast?

"_Well, it'd be rude not to, right?"_ I replied.

"I guess so."

Together, we emerged onto a ledge overlooking a gargantuan cavern. It was broad and well lit, with massive crystals of ice forming the ceiling with a massive pillar of rock slanting up to support it. The rocks themselves were mostly hexagonal shaped columns, kind of like the Giant's Causeway back home on Earth, except they were often covered with moss and ferns. In the centre of all this, there was a bubbling pool of water, venting steam throughout the cave.

Dragons soared _everywhere. _Every species that I vaguely recognised from the films was here, along with some that I had never seen before. It was a swirl of colour, smells and sounds of various roars. I found it hard to keep myself centred in such a mess. Each of my three heads was taking in so much information, sights, sounds, smells, sensations, that it felt like I was in the centre of a storm.

I could work with storms. I lowered my mental barriers and embraced the maelstrom of senses, letting it fill and wash through me. For a brief second, I felt the consciousness of every dragon in the Sanctuary. I saw what they saw, felt what they felt, and understood it all.

Suddenly, a massive mental presence slammed into me with the force of a battering ram. It seemed to only be checking me out rather than attacking, but I wasn't about to take chances. I snarled, retreated back to my own mind, and whammed my barriers down before looking around for what was trying to break into my mind. My defences easily held against the next prod, returning mental fire with a couple of small jabs.

The other presence seemed surprised, but retreated, allowing me to relax slightly. However, that wasn't the end of my troubles, as in front of Jacob and I, a gigantic head rose. The white, tusked, head of the Bewilderbeast. It was him who's mental aura I could feel, and it was him who had tried to search my mind.

Jacob bowed respectfully, but I kept standing. The Bewilderbeast was not my alpha, and besides, he wasn't that much bigger than I was. I could easily take him in a fight if I wanted to. Wait, where had I got _that_ idea from? Was it because King Ghidorah was an Alpha in KOTM, so being in the Berwilderbeast's presence made him think of me as a rival? Still, this was his home, and we were guests, so I nodded at him respectfully.

He appraised us with interest and let out a slow, frosty breath, covering us in ice crystals.

"_What are you?" _he asked us. His voice was deep and rich, and emanated a sense of security and safety.

"_You speak like I do?" _I replied, surprised.

In the movie, the Bewilderbeast only 'spoke' by rattling the spines on its forehead, and emitting a low, subsonic pulse. I hadn't expected for him to actually have a voice that I could understand.

"_Shouldn't I?"_ the Bewilderbeast chuckled.

I shrugged. "_Honestly, I don't know. I've seen a lot of crazy stuff recently, so I have no idea what should be normal anymore."_

A ridge over one of the Bewilderbeast's eyes lifted slightly. "_You shall have to tell me of your travels some other time, but for now, I bid you welcome, and ask who you are, and why you have come to my home."_

Jacob warbled something, then nudged me with a meaningful look.

I just shot him a confused look, to which he rolled his eyes and said "_I've said who I am, you do the rest."_

"_Why?" _I asked.

"_Because you're leading." _He smirked.

I gently cuffed him around the head (as a full strength blow probably would have killed him), then took over the conversation again as I turned back towards the Bewilderbeast. "_I'm not sure how much Jacob has said, but I'm Ghidorah, and we're Plainswalkers."_

"_And I am the White Tusked King." _The Bewilderbeast said. "_Plainswalkers… the term seems familiar, but I cannot place it."_

Jacob and I exchanged excited looks. There was only one person in this realm that could have known that word.

"_You've seen Gem?" _We asked together.

"_Who?"_

I sent the WTK a mental image of our clan leader. "_She's gone missing, and we're looking for her."_

"_What is she to you?" _the Bewilderbeast asked as he searched through his memory. "_Is she family or just a friend?"_

"_She's more like an Alpha to us, although it's not quite like that." _I explained. "_She leads our clan, and I guess we're kind of a family, but only as brothers and sisters."_

"_Hmm." _The WTK said._ "I do remember her. She has visited my nest several times over the past few flights of the seasons. The last time she was here was a little more than thirty flights of the sun and moon ago."_

"_That was around the last time we saw her!" _Jacob burst out as my eyes widened. "_She must have been flying back to Berk or_ _something, and got caught by Drago's Alpha or something! We know that the trappers were on that route, so perhaps he paid them a visit or something, and got Gem in the process!"_

"_That would… oh God, what would that even be like?!" _I said, trying to imagine it. "_Just to… to be enslaved like that, a prisoner in your own body, and not even able to fight back…"_

Jacob's bottom lip began to quiver, and he reverted to English as tears started to stream down his face. "A-a-and w-we left h-her like that f-f-for a _month!"_

My shock turned to guilt and worry, and then to anger. My eyes narrowed to slits, and small sparks began to tingle over my body. "_I'm going to kill Drago." _I promised._ "I'm going to obliterate him and the Enslaver, and I'm going to make it hurt."_

"A-and I'll help, r-right?" Jacob asked hopefully, wiping his eyes with a paw.

"_Maybe." _I said. "_You're either gonna stay out of the Enslaver's range and snipe at him, or you'll stay back, play sick tunes through my boom box, and not get in my way. If you get hit by my friendly fire, then you won't be getting back up."_

"Good point." The Night Fury conceded.

The WTK addressed us each by saying "_I don't understand how you can talk in the human tongue, and I don't know how you can defend your mind, but if you are enemies of Drago Bludfist, then you are friends of mine. Now, I believe that I am missing pieces of this puzzle you are forming. If you would, tell me your story, and I will help you to reunite with your companion any way I can."_

Together, Jacob and I shared bits and pieces about who and what we really were. We didn't share anything about our knowledge of the future, but we did tell the WTK that we used to be human, died, then became defenders of the multiverse.

"_So, you two and the one you have come to search for a part of a group that has members across all the worlds, and fights to defend them from outside forces?" _the Bewilderbeast eventually said.

"Pretty much." Jacob summed up.

"_And your leader is the one who guards this world?"_

"_Yup." _I confirmed.

"_So you will find her, then leave?" _The King asked.

"_We both have our own realms to protect." _I said. "_I've got someone covering for me, but I need to get back there afterwards."_

"And you have a crush on Saphira, so you want to meet back up with her again." Jacob teased.

"_I- wait, what?_" I spluttered.

"So you do like her!" He grinned. "So when are you gonna make your move?"

"_I don't- I- She's just a friend!" _I burst out. "_I don't think of her like that!"_

"Denial of that calibre must mean it's true!"

"_We're just friends!" _I practically roared at him.

Jacob just laughed long and hard at my expense as I glared at him. Even the White Tusked King chuckled, although that was probably because of my reaction, not because of Jacob's claim.

"_To echo your own words, why are we friends?" _I grumbled.

"Because Gem was kind to us and took us in when we needed her." Jacob sighed, quickly sobering up.

That comment made me remember something that he'd said when we were debating about coming here.

"_Back in Locostral," _I said, "_you said that Gem was the first person to care about you. What did you mean by that?"_

Jacob tensed up at my sudden question, and shuffled around a little before answering. "Let's go outside. I need this to just be between us, okay?"

"_Sure."_

The WTK seemed to understand that this was a personal issue, so nodded politely to us, then lowered himself back into the bubbling pool of water. Jacob spread his wings, then took off towards a decent-sized hole about a third of the way up one of the rocky walls. As I followed him, I soared out into a cloudless night sky and gasped.

A full-on aurora was in progress, with curtains of shimmering light gently waving over a cosmic backdrop of twinkling stars unlike those of Earth, Alagaësia, or Locostral.

"_This is…" _I gaped, my three heads taking in the spectacle. "_This is something else."_

"That it is." Jacob agreed, looking back at me as we flew to one of the nest island's rocky cliffs and landed there, lying down to watch the stars. Once we were comfortable, Jacob began.

"Back on Earth… I didn't exactly have the best life. I wasn't abused or anything, but it still wasn't great. I was an only child, and my mom died when I was still a toddler. I was too young to understand, but my dad didn't take the loss very well. He threw himself into his work, and started drinking, either leaving me at the nursery or at home most lot of the time. He was a mechanic, so he'd often work late, then go down to the pub in the evenings. When he'd get back home, he was often half-drunk, and didn't usually do anything with me except make me meals."

Jacob sighed, and focused on the wavering lights of the aurora for a while before continuing. "Life continued like that for a few more years. Dad started to rely more and more on alcohol to see him through the days, and he never tried to start a conversation between us. Home was a place of silence and solitude, and I began to understand that Dad was missing Mom, so I never brought her up in any of the brief conversations we had. I… I guess that I talk a lot now to make up for the fact that I hardly spoke back then.

I guess that when I started high school, I got fed up with being ignored by him. At first, I tried learning about engines and stuff and tried to help out Dad at his job. When that didn't work, I started to act out. I started by pulling friendly pranks on my classmates, like putting plastic spiders in their lockers and stuff. When I got bored with that, I moved up to work on the teachers. I became a hero to the school. I was the only one who'd prank the staff. I used to do stuff like pour Coke in the staff room's coffee machines and swap out the whiteboard pens for permanent markers. That was when Dad started to get called in."

I could tell that Jacob was on the verge of crying again, so I shuffled up next to him, and put a wing over his back in support.

"Whenever it happened, he only looked down at me in disappointment. His face was like a barren cliff; stern and harsh. I couldn't look at him when he wore that scowl, but in my mind, it was progress. I had to act out to get his attention. Given that I was into cars, and I knew that I had to act out, I fell into illegal street racing. I had no form of licence, not even a provisional, but I knew how to drive, and I had money to enter, and that was what mattered to the organisers.

Given that we met in the dead of night, I used to 'borrow' Dad's car and race with it. He was too drunk to notice that something was wrong, and I was skilled enough to not crash into anything, even when the police started coming after us. They finally caught me the night before I died. I got taken down to the station, and Dad was told."

Tears began to run down Jacob's face, but he managed to keep his voice level. "As you can imagine, he was ****ed off about what I'd been doing, and he gave me the longest conversation that I'd ever had with him. He said that he'd raised me to be responsible, to not get into this sort of stuff, and he said that Mom wouldn't have wanted me to be like this.

I should have been happy that he was finally talking to me, but instead, all I could feel was anger. I yelled at him that I'd raised myself, that I'd been the only one I could rely on. He yelled back that I'd only been allowed to stay because I wasn't enough of a bother to be put out for adoption.

The rest of that night, I seethed in rage. I tore my room apart. My possessions, my furniture, my toys, I smashed all of them. I- I felt so bitter that I didn't know what to do. My dad had practically said that I was trash that he hadn't kicked to the gutter yet. The next day, I got up before he did. I left the house, and walked around town, trying to figure out what I should do now. Apologise? Run away? There was only one thing that I knew how to do. Only one thing that I could do well. Racing.

I kicked around for the rest of the day, my anger building and building. When the night fell and the time eventually came for the next race, I took Dad's car out. He hadn't even bothered to move where the keys hung, or even put a lock on the garage, which just added more fuel to the fire. I wasn't important enough for him to take extra steps to stop me.

As I pulled up to the start line, I was seething. Due to what had happened the day before with the police, we were meeting out of town, on a deserted cliff road. I was gripping on the steering wheel with white knuckles, raring to go. This race would be different than the others. This time, I had something to prove. When the lights went green, I stomped on the gas, and shot off like a rocket.

I wasn't myself that night. My driving was aggressive, endangered my life, and the lives of the other racers. Therefore, it was no surprise that when I was trying to pass the girl who was in first that I wasn't very gentle. I bumped her twice as we were going into a corner, the second time sending her into a spin. She managed to recover it as a drift, but she knocked back into me as a result. I was going way to fast to stop what happened next. I broke through the barrier on the side of the road and went off of the cliff."

Jacob sniffed, but carried on talking as we watched the stars. "When I woke up and realised what had happened, I was close to suiciding. Only my Hiccup and Toothless got me through, and even then, I didn't have a lot to live for. I had nobody who really wanted me around, only two people who gave me reasons not to end my life.

By the time I got to Locostral, I was very low. At that time, Gem was part of another Clan that only took me in because she persuaded them to. They were picky about who they chose, only taking in the Plainswalkers with the most powerful forms, they only wanted me for my speed and firepower. Gem became a big sister to me, always checking if I was okay and if I needed something. I didn't really know what was going on at first before I realised that this was normal for family. The day I realised that we were kinda family, I told Gem about myself and how I properly died, then asked whether we could start a Clan of our own."

The Night Fury beside me smiled back at the memory and wiped at his eyes. "She smiled at me and nodded. Then we went to see the Elders and the rest is history. Paddles joined us a year after that, and after another year came Sal. After I got to know them, I asked Gem to explain to them about me. The pain was too fresh for me to tell the story myself, and I didn't want to relieve the memory. You're the only other person apart from Gem that I've told."

I felt strangely honoured by that admission, but I didn't really know what to say apart from "_I'm sorry."_

"Don't be." Jacob said firmly. "You couldn't have changed what had happened, and it's in the past. I honestly prefer my new life. I have people who care for me, people who I care about, and people I can help. I don't need more than that."


	6. Chapter 6: Secrets and Smackdowns

**In response to reviews:**

**Blaze 1992: Yup, the funny mode did crash and burn. Feels were felt.**

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**Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD or the IC**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Secrets and Smackdowns**

Jacob and I soon returned to the Sanctuary after my companion had his emotions under control, and we stayed the night in one of the caves. The next day, Hiccup and Valka went out with Toothless and Whatshisname, so naturally, we followed them because we had nothing else to do. Jacob said that he was pretty sure that the attack on the Sanctuary would be tomorrow, so we could still muck around today.

I'd asked the White-Tusked King to look after my stuff, and he'd agreed, so we basically trailed behind them like scaly stealth bombers, trying to stay out of their line of sight. This was more difficult than it sounded, and turned out to be a full-time job. Today's sky was nearly cloudless, there weren't many icebergs, and the sea was freezing when we tried diving in it, so we were forced to rely on our aerial prowess to keep out of sight. Therefore, we either flew above and behind them, or between them and the sun.

The rest of the day turned out to be an interesting experience. Lunch was both strange and crowded with so many other dragons in the sky as the White-Tusked King… distributed his catch. That was much too chaotic for my liking, and I had to wait for all the other dragons to clear off so I could eat properly. Still, I eventually got a meal, which was great. Fresh fish straight from the ocean, mmm. Fry it in batter, squirt a mountain of ketchup on it, and add half a truckload of fries, and then we'd be talking!

After that, we decided to stop following the humans and their companions covertly and just fly alongside them, which meant we were part of Valka's cool demonstration of wing-walking while we were riding a thermal vent. Naturally, when it was my turn, the tickling feeling of someone walking over my wing membranes was so bad I nearly crashed and killed us both. Thankfully, Jacob managed to take over so I didn't fall out of the sky.

Then there was Hiccup's wingsuit stunt, which Jacob and I complimented him on when we met back up with them on the ground. After that, we got into a quick discussion about jetpacks, and whether they were better than real wings. Valka indirectly brought us out of it by showing how Toothless' spine fins could split in half, which made Jacob almost demand for her to do the same to him.

Of course, that gave us two overly excited Night Furies who kept on snapping their fins apart, which made a _really _annoying noise. And they didn't stop until I threw them into a massive snowbank and told them to shut up. Valka asked whether I wanted to see if I had some kind of hidden ability, but I told her that I knew all I needed to about my form, so we called it a day and headed back to the Sanctuary.

* * *

The following morning was tense for Jacob and me. We were up early, ready for the upcoming battle. Jacob had stayed back at the Sanctuary, while I was flying patrols around the island in ever-larger loops. Surprisingly, I managed to completely miss Drago's fleet, but when I next checked in with Jacob, he said that he could see them on the horizon, and to get my shiny, golden ass back there as soon as possible.

As I did, I thought about what I was going to do. Get Gem, destroy Drago, his Enslaver, and anyone else who stood in my way. This would be the first time I would actually kill humans, and I wouldn't hold back.

* * *

As I came back in range of the Sanctuary, I could see Drago's fleet and my blood started to boil. They actually had a simple form of cannon that was shelling the icy mountain, and numerous dragon traps.

Quickly finding the awareness of the White-Tusked King, who was about to send out his dragons, I said "_Don't. Drago's got an army of trappers. You send your people out there and they die. And I'm sensing another of your kind with him. Stay inside, and don't let anyone leave, even the humans. Jacob and I will handle this."_

Admittedly, the part about sensing the other Bewilderbeast was a lie, but I knew that it was there, and I didn't want to give away my advantage of surprise.

"_Though I do not like leaving this battle in your claws," _the WTK said, "_I do not wish for the dragons who I care for to be harmed. This is your fight, and yours alone. May the winds blow in your favour."_

"_Thanks." _I said before changing mental channels and finding Jacob. "_Where are you?"_

"_Concealed in a small alcove." _He replied. "_I'm ready to open fire, but I'm looking for priority targets first."_

"_Any sign of Gem?"_

"_Not that I can tell."_

Then I asked the most important question of all. "_Are the tunes ready?"_

I could almost see Jacob smirking. "_Yup. Your 'badassery' playlist is ready to rock and roll!"_

"_Roger that." _I said, swooping down towards the beach where Drago's army had set up. "_Wait for my signal before unleashing hell on them."_

With that, I ended the call and slammed onto the shoreline. Trappers screamed and scattered backwards as the ground shook under them. My eyes narrowed and I roared, releasing three unearthly shrieks promising death, destruction, and disintegration. It wasn't quite an Alpha Call, but it was close.

Projecting to everyone within my range, I issued my challenge, relishing in the screams of terror that I was rewarded with. "_You, Drago *****fist, have enslaved countless dragons in your quest to conquer. You have ripped their minds from their bodies, and have subjugated them to a fate worse than death! Yet I am the Golden Guardian! I am the One Who Is Many! I am the Devil With Three Heads! I am your reckoning! So let out your Enslaver, let out your armies, let out your dragons, and I will destroy them all for what you have done to them, and my Clan Leader! Come at me!"_

My rant over, I reared up on my hind legs, roared again, and let loose with my lightning. Jacob correctly identified this as my signal, so hit play, and Led Zeppelin's _Immigrant Song _started blaring from wherever he'd put my boom box. My expression switched from an angry snarl to a savage grin, which seemed to terrify Drago's army far more than my growl ever could.

The first volley of my bolts blew up the large dome-like traps, releasing their occupants. I vaguely remembered that the teens from Berk were hiding in some of them with their scaly partners, but I was too ****ed off to care about what they were doing. As long as they got out of my way, I didn't give a damn.

Switching from bolts to beams, I fired at the furthest left ship and swept an arc of destruction over the entire fleet as the smell of ozone filled the air. Some of the ships exploded, others cracked and caught fire, and some of them released dragons that were imprisoned below their decks, but none of them would be seaworthy any more. And I hadn't even used full power.

Then I advanced, firing my lightning at the net launchers and other traps to stop the freed dragons from being captured again. Between my shots, I dealt with Drago's army with deadly force. My two, mace-like tails swept through the air like flails, crushing anything that stood in their way. My claws swiped, making mincemeat out of anything that came at me. My feet slammed onto the ground, smashing anything unfortunate enough to be below them.

Nothing Drago's army did stopped me. Spears and axes were thrown, but most of them bounced off. Arrows were fired with the same result. The weapons that actually punctured my armoured hide resulted in small cuts, but my regenerative ability formed new scales underneath them and pushed them out, making me whole again.

Then Drago decided to up his game. A roar of challenge rolled over the beach- not from the sea, but from the sky. Looking up, I saw an emerald green dragon diving, ready to unleash her flames. Gem. My eyes widened as I took in her appearance. She was thin and lean, with her ribs easily showing. Her usually spotless scales had horrible cuts and gashes covering them. Dark red stains surrounded these marks, and from their smell alone, I knew that it was dried blood. And if that wasn't enough, I could tell that Gem wasn't in control of herself from her slit eyes and almost trance-like expression, stoking my fury to new limits.

I knew that I could beat the Enslaver's control over my Clan Leader if I was purely focused in the mental battle, but I hadn't had any practise at battling physically and mentally at the same time. Therefore, I had to improvise.

Sidestepping the blast of fire that came my way, I returned fire with one of my lower-powered, taser-like shots. The electric charge blazed up through the sky faster than I could blink and hit Gem in the chest, making her veer off-course, her eyes rolling up into her head. She crashed about a kilometre from where I was, sand and snow flying everywhere. I winced guiltily. That looked like it had hurt, but I had other things to destroy- I mean worry about.

"_Jacob, go guard Gem!" _I ordered, then turned back to the battle, my eyes narrowing.

My fellow Plainswalker did as I asked, but took a quick detour towards a small group of dragons first, making them follow him towards my Clan Leader's prone form. I think that those were the teens' companions, but I wasn't sure.

Those thoughts were cut short as I began laying waste to the Drago's army again.

"_What's wrong, *****fist?!"_ I taunted. "_Is your sense of strategy as **** as the rest of your army, or are you deliberately letting me kill everything in my path?"_

In answer, I heard a wild, primeval yell, and armoured dragons swarmed me. I managed to fry a few of them out of the sky, and I snapped some of them in half with my teeth, but there were so many that I was a little overwhelmed.

Then they started flaming me.

I shrugged off the first few blasts, but as more and more blasts rained down on me, my scales started to bubble and fuse together. I may be resistant to the intense heat that lightning produces, but I wasn't built to deal with lava-like fire. Screeching in pain, I started building up power. Small sparks of charge began to flicker over me. More sparks joined them, becoming larger and more numerous until hundreds of thousands of volts worth of electricity was arcing over me like I was some kind of scaly tesla coil.

I reared up, spread my wings, and released the energy with a yell of "_EAT VOLTAGE, MOTHER****ERS!"_

The beach lit up brighter than the sun as my storm of lightning struck. The golden beams disintegrated the dragons with agony-filled death cries and turned their armour into a rain of molten metal. However, it also leapt through Drago's army, tuning anything that they hit into ash before jumping onto the next target.

I staggered upright as the bolts started to flicker out, my burns already half-healed. That had taken much more out of me than I had wanted. However, it had reduced the army to about twenty percent of its original size, so I regarded it as a fair trade.

Apparently, Drago was still alive, as his scream of rage brought out the Enslaver. The sea frothed, the burning and shattered remains of the ships being pushed aside as the dark Bewilderbeast muscled his way to the surface. Manacles surrounded his tusks, his skin was dark, and his eyes were cold and almost lifeless.

My eyes blazed as a foreign presence slammed against my mind. It felt like a battering ram was striking my mental defences. No finesse, no tact, only brute force. Brute force that I repelled with a flick of thought, and an order for the defenders of my mindscape to return fire. The Enslaver's face when he realised that he couldn't take me over was priceless, and then filled with pain as my mental barrage of missiles, bombs, tank shells and machine gun fire hit what looked like a sort of dark tentacle-like thing that was slamming down on my force-fields. At least, that's what it seemed to be to me.

"_What's wrong?" _I taunted smugly. "_Performance issues?"_

I didn't even give him time to respond as I fired mid-powered beams at him. I would have loved to have used a full-powered shot, but I didn't have the energy. Still, my lightning did make the Enslaver squirm and spasm as the electricity struck him. He wasn't killed by the onslaught, but as he struggled back to his feet, but I was happy to see that he did have severe burns covering his face, and one of his eyes had been turned to mush.

Enslaver roared and unleashed a blizzard of ice in retaliation. I barely managed to defend myself in time, but I managed to get my wing to take the brunt of the blast. Enslaver then charged forward, punching his tusks through the centre of my frozen wing, then jerked his head to the side.

I screamed as my wing membrane was torn apart, ice crystals shattering and blood spurting as Enslaver's tusks tore their way out. I'd experienced pain before, like the burning sensation of my key bonding with me, but I'd never felt anything of this magnitude. I staggered backwards on my hind legs, holding my torn wing together with my other arm and snarling at the Enslaver as my skin started knitting itself back together.

Enslaver used the opportunity to try and unleash his ice beam again, but I let loose with my lightning at the same time as he fired. The elemental attacks somehow locked, with my three lightning beams stopping his blizzard breath in its tracks. At the place where the two met, they deflected off each other, rebounding back at odd angles.

After that, it was just a case of whoever could hold their beam for the longest. Enslaver's beam was powerful, but I had a feeling that he couldn't sustain it for very long. As for me, I was beginning to feel drained, but I could keep on zapping for a long, long time if I wanted to.

Unfortunately, luck wasn't on my side. I'd used too much power decimating Drago's forces, and I hadn't saved my energy for the real fight. My lightning began to flicker before dying out completely, letting Enslaver's icy attack slam into me. My world went blue and white, and all I could feel was cold.

I could feel Enslaver laughing as I tried to break free of the icy prison he'd stuck me in. I could feel panic running through Jacob's mind as the evil Alpha turned towards him and the others with him. I could feel Drago's satisfaction that his pet had defeated me. And I could feel my shame and guilt that I'd not only failed my clan leader, but lead my friend here to die.

And then the burning anger that had consumed me earlier resurfaced. I would not let Gem and Jacob die. I would not be defeated by this false Alpha! And I would _never _allow any of Drago's forces to leave this island alive.

Something built up from inside me, a power that felt similar to the sensations of going through the Rift. I felt it flood through me, giving me an energy boost and making me feel _whole_. The icy prison surrounding me shattered, and I rose to finish the fight as the song changed to _Thunderstruck._

As I emerged, everything looked smaller. Or was it… that I'd become taller. The Enslaver, who I'd been a little shorter than before, was now barely a third of my size, the battleships that I'd obliterated were now the size of toys, and the nest barely came up to my shoulder while I was standing upright. I flexed my claws experimentally and examined my injured wing. Only a scar remained.

"C-C-Cade?" Jacob stuttered, but I could hear him from where I was. "You… you… HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!"

That last part was because I slammed back down onto all fours and charged the Enslaver with a livid battle cry. The ground shook every time I took a step, massive cracks splintering in the ground where my feet slammed down. Enslaver turned, and his 'oh, ****' face was a sight to see as I spread my wings, jumped, and grabbed his back with the talons on my feet.

"_TIME TO DO AN OTACHI, JACKASS!" _I roared, snatching the Bewilderbeast off the beach before I started to gain altitude.

"YEAH, BABY!" Jacob yelled in triumph, not caring about the massive winds that I was inadvertently creating. "GIVE HIM WHAT HE DESERVES, CADE!"

Enslaver was going ape-**** crazy as we gained height. Each beat of my wings brought us further and further from the ground, and he did not like it one bit. Happily though, he couldn't do anything about it, and he had no wings of his own, so he was at my mercy. Once we passed the point where the Sanctuary had become little more than a dot below me, I hovered in place for a few wingbeats, then let go of Enslaver.

He began to fall with a terrified scream, and I dived too. A few beats of my wings later, and I'd shot past him, heading back to earth to watch him fall. Of course, being so much larger than him, I easily reached the ground first, the beats of my massive wings easily stopping me in time.

Looking up, I saw Enslaver break through the cloud layer. He wasn't burning up or anything, but he was definitely going fast enough that he'd die on impact. But that was a privilege that I'd deny him of. I took off, intercepted Enslaver, and grabbed hold of him in my three sets of jaws. The difference in momentum pulled me downwards significantly, but I managed to stop our descent a few hundred metres above the ground.

What I did next sounds cold. Well it was cold, but I was angry enough to do it without any regrets. I grabbed Enslaver by the neck with my left head, by the tail with the right, and on his back with the middle one. Then I pulled my left and right heads apart, almost gently at first, but with ever-increasing force. Enslaver screamed and tried to dislodge me, but I was far too strong for him to break my grip. With two savage yanks, I simultaneously decapitated him and tore his tail off, before throwing them and his bleeding corpse at the remains of Drago's army with three roars of victory, crushing them underneath their ultimate weapon.


	7. Chapter 7: Going home

**Author's note: Blimey! Apparently, fight scenes get reviews… hmm. Anyway, this is the final chapter of Searching For Lost Gems, and I hope you all enjoyed it!**

**In response to reviews:**

**ArchAngel319: Yes, this badassery will happen in Trial By Lightning, and thanks!**

**Wizzer96: Bewilderbeast bowling… yeah, that's pretty much what happened at the end. Will I do more side stories? Probably. Depends if people are interested in them.**

**Br2nd66: Yep. Full sized, and fully overpowered.**

**MoosHeadFamLit: Err, yeah, pretty much.**

**Blaze1992: IT'S A CATEGORY 6!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD or the IC**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Going home**

As the dismembered Bewilderbeast cut out the sound of battle, the world was filled by my jubilant roar of victory.

"_I did it, I did it! I'm somehow massive and I did it!" _I sang, doing a little celebratory dance which shook the ground.

"Cade, how the **** did you do that?!" Jacob said from somewhere far, far below.

Looking down, I looked around for my friend and eventually found him on an icy outcrop halfway between Gem and me. Going down on all fours, I lowered my heads to be on his level. Actually, I only lowered my centre head, and even then, I had to turn it sideways so I didn't go cross-eyed. My grins widened as I truly saw how gigantic I really was. If he was curled up, then Jacob would be the size of my eyeball.

"_Which part?" _I asked him smugly.

"The growing massive and wrecking _everything_?!"

I pondered that for a while. How had I had such a massive growth spurt? I'd felt hopelessness, fear and guilt before it was burned away by anger, rage and determination. Then there was something like the Rift, and after that, power.

"_Has there ever been a case of a Plainswalker gaining power through the Rift?" _I asked Jacob. "_Not just the new form and multiverse travel, but actual powers?"_

My friend's eyes widened. "Oh… my… God… You're a Riftheart, aren't you?"

"_A Riftheart?" _I echoed.

Jacob nodded. "They're exceedingly rare. Exceedingly powerful too, and if you truly are one of them, then you'll probably be able to deal with a Shadow all by yourself."

"_Awesome," _I decided, "_but start from the beginning."_

Jacob glanced over his shoulder before saying "I don't really know much about the concept, but Gem's hurt. You knocked her out real good so she couldn't hurt herself, and she's breathing, but she's bleeding and I think she's got a few broken bones, and we both saw how thin she is."

I nodded seriously, excitement forgotten. "_I'll take her back to Locostral. If you could get my stuff out here so I can load up and go, I'd appreciate it."_

"You got it." Jacob said before flying off towards one of the nest's entrances.

I straightened up and glanced at Gem. Like Jacob said, she was injured, but she seemed to be stable for now. However, she bore no sign of having her key, which was worrying. Even though only the owner of the key could use it, it was our only safe way to Locostral and back.

As a small cloud of dragons came into land, I walked over to the remains of Drago's army and rolled the Bewilderbeast's bleeding carcass off them. The smell of defeat was almost overpowering- a mix of sticky blood, the shattered musk of wood, cold and wet flesh, and the metallic sting of iron rolling over smashed weapons and legions of bodies.

And yet, there wasn't the smell of a key. Plainswalker keys had a resonant hum to them- a sense of rightness that stood out like a sore thumb. That sense of rightness melded with the golden metal and the Tabasco sauce smell of the Rift, creating a warm, spicy aroma that every Plainswalker that had a sensitive nose loved.

That prompted me to search the shattered remains of the fleet. I stood upright and waded into the freezing cold, dark, stained sea, sniffing at the wrecks. I found nothing. In the hope that the key had sunk, I dipped one of my heads underwater and had the unpleasant sensation of water going up my nose. The transparent membrane that I had slid down over my eyes, and I began another search, although I quickly realised that it wasn't here.

I surged my way back to shore. Rising back onto dry land, seawater cascaded off me in waves. Jacob was waiting out on the shoreline, and my bag of stuff was lying next to Gem, and the rock music had stopped playing. Shaking myself like a dog to try and dislodge the remaining salty water, I stomped out onto the bloodstained beach.

"What were you doing in there?" Jacob asked.

"_Taking a swim." _I joked, striding towards our Clan Leader before saying "_Actually, I was looking for Gem's key. It's not in any of the wreckage or in the ocean."_

Jacob had to run to keep up, but he managed to pant out "Gem will have a better idea about where it is than we will. Let's just get her back home."

"_Home?" _I echoed softly. "_You really think of Locostral as home, not Earth?"_

My friend shrugged. "I'm gonna steal this out of Thor: Ragnarok and say that home is not a place, it's a people. And Locostral is where my people are. I have friends there- family, actually, and I will fight tooth and claw to keep that family together. Don't you feel the same way?"

"_Kinda, I guess." _I said, shrugging. "_I don't exactly think of you guys as family, but as friends, I see your point. And you've seen how hard I'll fight to protect the people I care about."_

"That's true." Jacob said before suggesting "Wanna take a selfie with me? It's not often that we get to go to other realms."

I smiled from all three of my heads. "_Why not?"_

* * *

In the end, getting the shot was harder than it sounded, but we finally snapped one. It showed me with three happy grins and doing a thumbs up with my left hand while I held up Jacob with my right. He was holding out the large camera we were using with a paw and he had to curl his tail around to hit the capture button, but he wore an excited, gummy grin. In the background was the remains of Drago's army, and the upside-down head of Enslaver with his tongue stuck out. Fun times.

As I gently deposited Jacob back on the ground, I thought about whether we'd done a good job. We'd found Gem, which was our main objective, and I'd inadvertently saved Stoick, which prevented Hiccup from becoming Chief of Berk. Ripples would become waves. Unfortunately, Jacob and I had also alerted the people here about Plainswalkers, or at least, some of them. Even so, they'd spread the news, and Gem's job would get a lot harder. Or maybe it wouldn't, given that she seemed to watch from a distance most of the time.

I was brought out of my thoughts by a loud groan. Looking down, I saw that Gem was weakly opening her eyes and squinting up at me.

"Cade?" She asked feebly. Her voice sounded cracked and parched, like she hadn't drunk anything for a long time.

"_Hey Gem." _I said happily. "_How are you feeling?"_

"Crappy. My everything feels broken." she said before asking "What… what are you… doing here?"

"_We_ came to get you." Jacob said, climbing onto our Clan Leader's head so she could see him. "It's been around a month since you last showed up to a Gathering, and we were worried something had happened to you."

"A… month?" Gem questioned, her eyes narrowing weakly. "But I saw you guys… three days ago."

Jacob and I exchanged worried glances.

"_What's the last thing you remember?" _I asked gently.

There was a pause before Gem said "I left Berk… to check in with the White-Tusked King. I found the nest… stayed there a while… then began the flight back. Then everything… goes hazy for a long time. There are some brief flashes of awareness… trying to resist something, maybe… but I don't remember much."

"_You got captured by Drago's Enslaver." _I said gently. "_That thing managed to get inside your head."_

"It did?" Gem said. She let out a chain of curses as I nodded, before asking "What… did it make me do?"

"For the most part," Jacob began, "we have no idea. We're at the nest now, after Drago tried to take it. He launched you as part of a counterattack when Cade started wrecking everything. The big guy tased you before you could do any damage though, so you don't have anything to worry about apart from where your key is."

"Oh… I know where it is." Gem assured us. "So, you came here… to make sure I was okay? Did it take you a month to… find me, or what?"

"_Actually, we all got extremely worried about you when you didn't show in Locostral, but we didn't come after you until a couple of days ago." _I said sheepishly. "_Sorry."_

Gem rolled her eyes. "Better… late than never. Now… is it just me… or did you grow?"

"He's grown, and it was _awesome_!" Jacob proclaimed happily. "Cade obliterated Drago's army, knocked you out, and then fought the Enslaver all on his own! There was a bit where the armoured dragons were swarming him, and then he was like 'Sike, assholes!', and let loose this massive burst of lightning! And when the Enslaver came out the water, they went into beam-lock! And when Cade burst out of the icy cage that the Bewilderbeast put him in and he turned _gigantic_! And then he…"

Jacob kept on going on to Gem about my awesomeness, and for the first time, I could see that they had a sibling-like relationship. Gem was the big sister, listening to everything that Jacob said, and Jacob was the younger brother, eagerly sharing everything that we did. It was warming to watch, but it also made me feel a little cold, knowing that I was cut off from my relatives.

I didn't want to rain on their parade, but I looked Gem over again and said "_I'm sorry to cut this short, but if you haven't noticed Gem, your bleeding, probably have a few broken bones, and look as thin as a rake. We need to get you back to Locostral, pronto."_

Gem nodded and started to get up with a grimace before I gently pushed her back down. "_You shouldn't be walking around. We don't exactly know what happened to you, so I'll give you a lift."_

Reluctantly, the green dragoness sighed. "Fine. Just don't… bring this up… in the future."

"_Gotcha, Boss."_

"And don't call me that!"

Chuckling, I lowered myself to the ground, allowing Gem to crawl onto my back. It must have looked weird, but it worked, and that was what mattered. I gently rose to all fours, carefully making sure that my passenger was okay.

"Can I get a ride too?" Jacob asked cheekily.

I rolled my eyes and said "_Just this once." _which made him squeal happily and leap aboard.

As I rummaged through my bag for my key, a voice asked "So you're leaving?"

I continued searching for my key, but focused one of my heads on the speaker. Hiccup, who was hovering on Toothless a decent way away.

"_That's the plan." _I confirmed. "_Gem will probably be back with you in a few weeks, but I doubt that you'll see me or Jacob again."_

"Well, you never know." My friend said. "I might request a transfer from the Elders eventually. Then I could hang out here."

"But your realm… needs you." Gem said, focusing on the blue-eyed Fury. "And I won't be able… to put up with your pranking 24/7."

All three of us Plainswalkers chuckled, but I could sense the tension coming from Hiccup.

Glancing away from him, I said "_You probably think I'm a monster, don't you?"_

Hiccup didn't reply, but that just gave me the answer to that question.

I shrugged. "_Thought so. I did what I did because it was better than what would have happened otherwise, and I don't regret that. Being a Plainswalker is filled with hard decisions. You can't always find a clean outcome to events, but it may be the best of bad options. If I hadn't fought, then-"_

"I'll explain it… when I come back." Gem said to him, interrupting me. "I'd also appreciate it… if you could ask your people to keep quiet about me. Knowing that there's other realms out there… and there's people there… might be too hard for your people to handle."

Reluctantly, Hiccup nodded. "I'll tell them that. I'm not sure if Dad will agree, but I'll certainly tell him."

"Well... that's the best I can ask for." Gem muttered.

Finally finding my key, I lifted it out of my bag. Somehow, it had scaled itself up so that I could still hold it comfortably, and it gleamed in the sunlight. However, before I could use it, Toothless screeched at me, so I opened a mental channel to him.

"_Me want to ask you to tell Night-Rider that me love him like a nest-mate." _He said quickly, fearing that I'd go before he could get the words out.

I smiled, and dutifully relayed the message, making Hiccup's eyes widen. He looked down at Toothless, who looked up at him happily, and gave him a big hug.

I was about to turn the key before I realised that there was someone that I needed to say goodbye too.

Contacting the White-Tusked King, I said "_Drago's dead, and so is the Enslaver."_

"_That is a relief." _The WTK replied happily. "_And what of the enslaved dragons?"_

"_The ones in the traps were freed." _I replied, "_but the armoured ones that fought for Drago are dust."_

"_That is a shame, but I am glad that the army did not breach my home. You have my gratitude." _

"_Thanks, and this is also goodbye, I guess." _I said.

"_You are leaving?" _The Bewilderbeast asked. "_Then I presume that you have found your friend."_

"_Yup." _I said, popping the p. "_We've got Gem, and we're bugging out."_

"_Then I thank you for your help, and I promise you that if you ever return here, and need my assistance, then I will gladly grant it. May the winds blow in your favour."_

"_And in yours."_ I replied, before broadcasting on all channels. "_Prepare for Rift in five, four, three, two, one!"_

With that, I grabbed hold of the Rift's savage power, thrust my key forward, and twisted it. I grabbed hold of my bag of stuff in my left head as the _massive _orange vortex roared into being. With one last look at the battlefield, the dragons and their companions gathering down the beach from us, and Hiccup and Toothless, I surged forward into the familiar orange of the Rift.

* * *

Bursting through the arrival portal, everything was business. Jacob sped off to find an Elder and some medics, and I stayed with Gem. There was a large amount of shock from those who turned up about my newfound massiveness, but I told them to take care of Gem first. Amid her protests that she could walk there, my Clan Leader was loaded up on a maglev truck and was taken to hospital as Jacob and I returned to Mount Bluepeak after promising to see her tomorrow.

When I said that we returned to Bluepeak, what I actually meant was that Jacob went inside while I laid out on the snow, propping my three heads near the large, panoramic windows that gave a view out over the city and acted as an impromptu entry/exit point for us. I was now _way _too big to fit in, and I wasn't going to chance the large cargo lift for fear of it breaking.

Jacob did have the decency to open the windows so I could prop my heads inside, and my necks were long enough so I could rest my three noggins on the sofa. My friend turned on the TV and we just laid there, not really watching it.

After a long, comfortable while, Jacob eventually said "I'd call that a job well done."

I hummed in acknowledgement. I wasn't exactly happy with some of the side-effects that we'd caused, but we'd got Gem back, so that was mission complete as far as I was concerned.

Yawning, I said "_Wanna take tomorrow off?"_

"Definitely. Maybe the day after that too."

"_Don't we have a Gathering then?"_

"Think so."

A pause.

"Hey, do you want a hot chocolate or something?"

"_God, yes."_

"I'll go look for the jumbo marshmallows."

* * *

The next morning, the first thing that I heard was an electronic voice saying "Look at the pair of you. Please tell me that you didn't get wasted last night."

Opening my eyes, I saw Elder Abraxus standing next to the cargo lift, his arms crossed and his single eye coloured a warm green.

"I'm not a fan of alcohol." Jacob grumbled from under a pile of blankets piled on the sofa. "That would be my dad you're looking for."

"_And I'm not old enough to drink." _I groaned tiredly. "_And unless this is life-threatening, please let me go back to sleep."_

"Well, this isn't exactly life-threatening _yet,_ but it might be in the future."

Blearily, I made a motion for him to go on before looking for something caffeinated to drink.

"First off, congratulations. You guys definitely did better than I did when I first went to a realm that wasn't my own."

"_Why, what happened?" _I asked, slamming a shipping container sized kettle on its dock and fumbling the switch on with one of my tongues.

"Well, it was in the middle of the Clone Wars, so not well. I lost both of my arms."

"I feel for you, Sir." Jacob moaned from under his mini-mountain. "Not even being able to give the finger to whoever did it must have been hard."

Abraxus chuckled. "You can drop the 'sir'. I'm not as much of a fan of formality as my fellow Elders are. Anyway, secondly, I bring news. Gem's been fixed up, but she has broken a few bones and needed masses of stitches for her cuts, so the medics are keeping her down in the hospital for now, which she isn't too happy about. She also suffered a large electrical burn-"

"_That's my bad." _I interrupted. "_Knocking her out was the alternative to breaking the Bewilderbeast's control over her, and I'm rather inexperienced on that front."_

The Elder nodded and continued. "Anyway, she should be released in the next few days once the quartermasters have rigged up a frame to ensure that she can walk without knocking one of her bones out of alignment. I'm also here to collect a report from you two. What exactly happened?"

Not wanting to talk about it, I sent my memories of the last few days sans Jacob's explanation of his backstory to Abraxus.

After a brief pause, he said "You've just dumped the write-up of the thing onto me, haven't you?"

"_Pretty much."_ I smirked.

"You sneaky *******." Abraxus complained. "Fine. But I'm going to put the picture I took of you two up on our segment of the internet to get revenge. And finally, I need to talk to you about how you got this big."

"He has been putting on weight for a while." Jacob joked, not at all worried by the prospect of an embarrassing picture in return for getting out of doing any work. "A few pies too many, and this is what happens." Abraxus and I both ignored him, so he said "Okay, okay. In all seriousness, I think that he might be a Riftheart."

The Elder's single eye turned from a warm green to a surprised yellow. "Really?"

"Yup."

Abraxus looked me over again, then something flipped out of his arm and scanned me. I recoiled as a red beam shone over my faces and into my eyes, but the scan was over fairly quickly. A tablet folded out of the Elder's other arm, and he began prodding at it.

"You do seem to have the potential for it." He said eventually. "You have a large power store, and lot of Rachyon particles in your essence, and my data shows that your portals into the Rift are pretty much always stable."

"_Excuse me, Rachyons?" _I asked incredulously. Surely that was too stupid of a name to be a real thing. _"Is this like that Star Wars **** about Midichlorians or whatever?"_

"Kind of." Abraxus said, waving his free hand in a 'so, so' gesture. "The difference is that, unlike that garbage, this stuff is in your soul rather than your bloodstream, and is definitely magical. Rachyons is basically a pun combining the Rift, and Tachyons, which are particles that go faster than light. The more you have, the easier it is to create your portals into the Rift, and the easier finding a path through it is. If you have enough, you can even bend the Rift to do interesting stuff, and that qualifies you to be a Riftheart."

"_So… a Riftheart is just someone who can manipulate the Rift really well?" _I said.

"That's the general gist of it." the Elder confirmed. "We have about thirty Rifthearts at the moment, but they can all do a lot of cool stuff. They often use the Rift itself as a weapon, venting its energy out, or sucking their opponents half into it before cutting the connection. In comparison, you changing your size isn't that impressive, but you're definitely using the Rift to reshape the body that it outfitted you with after it caught you from limbo."

"_Could I… like, shapeshift if I tried hard enough?" _I asked excitedly.

Abraxus shook his head. "No. You can only shapeshift if your form lets you, like if you're an Animagus or something. The Rift gave you this form, and if you try to make it change you again, its power will just burn you into a charred husk. There's a reason why it only changes your form while in limbo, and that's because it would kill you any other time, so it can only act when you're dead."

"_Well that's terrifying." _I muttered.

"Stick to changing your size for now." Abraxus reassured me. "Testing yourself for if you're a Riftheart always ends badly. If you are one, then you'll unlock different powers from the Rift as you go. A couple of us aren't Rifthearts, but we can still use the Rift for some abilities, so like them, I'll put you down as a potential Riftheart. However, if you ever find yourself using a power that you can't explain from your form, find me. I'll put you into training at once."

"_Right."_ I said as the kettle finished boiling. "_But could you at least tell me how I can shrink and come back indoors."_

"Just focus on drawing the Rift into you, but not to create a portal. You should only have to think about the size you want to be, and you should change to be that big or small."

"_Okay then. Here goes nothing."_

Closing my eyes, I pictured myself at my regular size, and reached for the Rift. There was the familiar sensation of wrestling with it for dominance, but it was over fairly quickly. Opening my eyes again, I found myself stood in the window at my regular Smaug-like size.

"_Now that's cool."_ I said before coming inside and closing the window. "_I sense a long, long, list of possible pranks in the future!"_

* * *

**The End! I hope you all enjoyed this quick dive into another realm. This was fun to write, as well as a nice change of pace from Trial By Lightning. I'll go back to writing that now, and I thank you all for reading my work!**


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